the calhoun chronicle, winter 2011

TheCalhounChronicle

W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Celebrating Teachers page 16

Little Calhoun Celebrates the World’s Cultures page 24

Great Chemistry page 26

From the Adirondacks to Africa and Asia page 28

TRusTEEs

Jill BargonettiAndrea BoothJames GlasgowMelanie GriffithDylan HixonPamela KauppilaDavid Kramer ’02Melissa LibertyDana LoftMary LouieDebra MayerMarc MurphyColleen Pike BlairMarkus ReddingShaiza RizaviSusan ThomsonRolf ThraneMilton L. Williams, Jr.

HONORaRy TRusTEEs

Edwin Einbender*Constance Stern Flaum ’39Ronald M. Foster, Jr.*Sally GoodgoldLawrence S. HarrisMark S. KaufmannAnne Frankenthaler Kohn ’39*Peter D. LedererStuart Levin*David C. Masket*Joan MasketArthur S. OlickElizabeth Parmelee*June Saltzman Schiller ’42Jesse I. SiegelMary-Ellen Greenberger Siegel ’49Allen B. SwerdlickEdward S. Tishman

*deceased

OFFICERS

Co-Presidents Pamela KauppilaMary Louie

SecretaryLouise Gore

TreasurerAndrea Black

Vice Presidents, Upper SchoolJanice Berchin-WeissColleen Pike Blair

Vice Presidents, Middle SchoolAmy EdelmanLisa Konorty

Vice Presidents, Lower School/81stEllen CovenMare Rubin

Vice Presidents, Lower School/74thPaige LyneDaniela Menghi

BOARD O F T RUS T EES 2 0 1 0 – 2 0 11

PARENTS ASSOC IAT ION 2 0 1 0 – 2 0 11

Eric Potoker ’85Chair

Karen SegalVice Chair

Jon BrayshawTreasurer

Erika BrewerSecretary

Steven J. NelsonHead of School

LIFE TRUSTEESRobert L. Beir*Eric B. Ryan

*deceased

EditorBeth [email protected]

Assistant EditorAlison [email protected]

Alumnae/i NewsBart Hale ‘[email protected]

Copy EditorAmy Edelman

Editorial AssistantsAngela FischerMichelle Raum

Contributing WritersJennifer ArcureSteve NelsonJessica DudleyJohn RoederAli Werner

PhotographersAlison BennettMarc CalcanoLori Dorr ’92Angela FischerBeth KriegerCamila OteroGiovanni Pacifici

DesignIris A. Brown Design, LLC

THE CALHOUN SCHOOL

Main number: 212-497-6500

Lower School/74th: 212-497-6550

Admissions/81st: 212-497-6542

Admissions/74th: 212-497-6575

Alumnae/i Relations: 646-666-6450

Annual Giving: 212-497-6579

Communications: 212-497-6527

Please send changes of address, phone or e-mail to [email protected]

THE CALHOUN CHRONICLE | Winter 2011The Calhoun Chronicle is published twice each year by the Communications Office for alumnae/i, current and former parents, staff and friends.

Calhoun’s mission: To inspire a passion for learning through a progressive approach to education that values intellectual pursuit,creativity, diversity and community involvement.

ON THE COVER: John’s Cluster is a happyreunion of Calhoun alums from three decades,all of whom now work at their alma mater asteachers or staffers. Feature story, “CelebratingTeachers,” on page 16.

PHOTO

: CAMILA

OTER

O

Contents

1T H E C A L H O U N C H R O N I C L E

26

28

F E A T U R E S

Celebrating Teachers 16

Little Calhoun Celebrates the World’s Cultures 24

Great Chemistry 26

From the Adirondacks to Africa and Asia 28

D E P A R T M E N T S

Viewpoint, by Steven J. Nelson 2

School News

New Development Team 3

Harvest Fest 6

Faculty News 10

Calhoun Onstage 13

Sports 14

Alumnae/i News 30

Class Notes 32

Profile: Sara Jane Goldstein Drescher ’57 33

Profile: Barbara Williams Fullard ’66 34

Profile: Gay Friendland Nicholson ’69 36

Profile: Alexi Savov ’02 38

Former Faculty/Staff 43

Reunions 44

W I N T E R 2 0 1 1TheCalhounChronicle

6

44

24

14

To the Teachers Who Change Livesby Steven J. Nelson, Head of School

The recent movie Waiting for Superman ignited a firestorm of praise and, in my view, well-deserved criticism. The

film suggested that teachers are the cause of many or most ills in public education. There are many problems in public andprivate education, but teachers are not one of them. Any dispassionate view of the alleged decline of achievement in Americanschools would conclude that among the complex variables—cultural shifts, economic and social inequity, inadequate funding,poor public policy, lousy parenting—the only thing that has not changed is the dedication and skill of teachers.

A more apt characterization of teachers might be found in the tribute I wrote in 2004 to a retiring kindergarten teacher, LilLulkin. I offer it again as a tribute to all the great Calhoun teachers, then and now.

Dear Lil,

Thirty-five years, 15 kids—give or take—to a class. That makes 525 kids you have loved and taught. You’ve spentabout 50,400 hours teaching during those 35 years. That’s enough time to visit Pluto and return, yet you have stayed inone place. Remarkable.

During this, your final year of teaching, rock stars have been idolized, athletes have signed multimillion-dollar contractsbefore they were old enough to vote and business leaders have been convicted because of shabby ethics andpractices. They have been in the The New York Times and you have not. You have stayed in one place, teach-ing children while controversy swirled over the war in Vietnam, while the Hubble Telescope captured breath-taking pictures of the infant universe, and while the Dow Jones Industrial average went from 750 to 12,000(and partway back). You have stayed in one place, teaching children, while Elvis died and reappeared insmall towns everywhere, while the Berlin Wall fell, and while the nation enjoyed unprecedented prosperityand endured unspeakable terror.

A lot happened while you were just sitting around in one place teaching children!

There is no profession as important as teaching children and you have done it with rare grace, skill, good humorand abundant love. You should be the Time magazine Woman of the Year. You should win multiple Oscars,

Tonys and Emmys. You should be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Niceness and the Nobel Prize for Dedication. But youwon’t. Teachers don’t become household names unless they do something really awful, and all you have done are reallywonderful things.

Yes, you have taught long enough to visit Pluto and return, yet you have stayed in oneplace. Some people travel to far galaxies and other people prepare them for the trip.For 35 years you have been Calhoun’s NASA. You have inspired and cajoled, taughtand hugged. You have given your hundreds of kids a confident and unconditionallyaffirming start and sewn their flight jackets with threads of wisdom and joy. You’velaughed at their five-year-old jokes and been gob-smacked by their insights. You’vewiped their noses (and behinds) and put smiles back on their faces just when theyneeded it. And because of you, 525 kids believed they could travel to the stars oraccomplish anything they wished. And they have. And they will.

There can be no life achievement greater than to have affected the lives of 525 humansin a profound and irreversible way. In any other context this statement might be trite,but in your case it is irrefutably true: You have changed the world for the better.

To slightly amend an old bumper sticker, “If you (can) read this, thank your (child’s) teacher!”

2 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

VIEW

POINT

Lil Lulkin, Calhoun kindergarten

teacher from 1970 to 2004, with

Emily Deutchman '04, in 1992.


David Smith, Director of Developmentand Alumnae/i Relations, comes toCalhoun from CCS, a fundraising consult-ing firm. There he developed and directedfundraising campaigns for variousnonprofit organizations, including theNational Association for theAdvancement of Colored People(NAACP), Women for WomenInternational, and Pace University. At theNAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rightsorganization, David launched a major-gifts fundraising initiative, bringing innearly $1.7 million in individual majorgifts in ten months and creating a major-donor giving society. Prior to joiningCCS, David taught government andhistory in NYC public schools and atFriends Seminary. “My heart is inprogressive education, and I am thrilled tobe a part of the Calhoun community,”says David.

Sonia Bonsu ’95, Director of AnnualGiving, is beginning her third year in thatposition at Calhoun. But even beforetaking on the role of employee, she hadbeen an active alumna, serving as repre-sentative to the Board of Trustees, co-chair of the Alumnae/i Council, andfrequent speaker at admissions openhouses. Sonia says that, although she hasbeen affiliated with many schools overthe years, Calhoun has long been herfavorite—ever since she started as aseventh grader. Her memories of thosefirst years have been enormously helpfulin yet another role she serves at Calhounthis year—as cluster advisor to five luckyseventh grade girls. Sonia, who has herBA from Harvard and her JD from

Fordham University, is involved inphilanthropic activities outside ofCalhoun, as well; she is the fundraisingadvisor to a Harvard scholarship fundcreated in honor of two undergraduateclassmates who passed away, and she isan alumni volunteer for the Prep for PrepAnnual Fund.

Bart Hale ‘00, Alumnae/i RelationsCoordinator, joined theDevelopment Office thisyear after four years as aparalegal in theStructured Finance groupat Dewey BallantineLLP. A Calhoun lifer, hewas involved in manyUpper School activitiesas a student, serving as editor of theUpper School newspaper, businessmanager for the yearbook and class presi-dent for three years. He played on soccer,basketball and tennis teams, although hisproudest contribution to Cougar athleticswas helping start the first (and only) highschool sailing team in the city. A graduateof Colgate University, Bart continues towork with the university’s alumni officeas a member of Colgate’s LeadershipGiving Society. He is also helping start ajunior committee for the Parkinson’sDisease Foundation, and supports variousenvironmental sustainability groups. Bartsees his new position as a chance to giveback. “Alumnae/i love this place, and I’mexcited to find new ways to better connectthem with an institution that helped shapeso many of our lives.”

Barbara Bernard, Development Associateand the mother of two Calhoun graduates,Jack ’84 and Daniel ’86, has been part of

the Calhoun community since Jackentered the school in 1970. In the late1970s and early 1980s, she and herhusband, Dick, were active members ofthe Board of Trustees. Barbara was also aleader in the Parents Association—whichwas, at the time, the primary fundraisingentity for the school. In 1987, after manyyears of volunteer service, she was hiredto work in the Development Office.Barbara says many of her closest friendscontinue to be people she met throughCalhoun.

Jessica Dudley, Development Assistant,began as a temp last spring but Calhounsmartly brought her on full time thissummer! A graduate of Purchase College,she has long been involved with philan-thropic work, beginning with her role asphone-a-thon supervisor for her college’sannual fund, and then as co-chair of the

senior class gift committee. Jessica, whomajored in art history and Spanishlanguage and culture, has also worked asan assistant in two art galleries and as avolunteer grant writer.

Rachel Arky joined Calhoun this fall asCampaign Assistant. She has a master’sdegree in classical voice from ManhattanSchool of Music and has performed invenues in New York, Italy and Canada.Her most recent jobs were in the educa-tion department of the MetropolitanOpera, the opera’s gift shop and the musiclibrary at Columbia University, but she isexcited to be working now at Calhoun,which embodies “the kind of progressive,individualized, creative education” sheexperienced at her alma mater, SaintAnn’s School in Brooklyn.


SchoolNewsCalhoun Welcomes New Development TeamCalhoun welcomes a reinvigorated Development team this year, led by David smith

as the new Director of Development and alumnae/i Relations. Joining David are Bart

Hale ’00 as alumnae/i Relations Coordinator, Jessica Dudley as Development assistant

and Rachel arky as Campaign assistant. sonia Bonsu ’95 is in her third year as

Director of annual Giving, and Barbara Bernard, Development associate, is in her 41st

year as a member of the Calhoun community—24 spent in the Development Office.

“I have already learned in my short time here that the Calhoun community is very

philanthropic,” says David, who hopes to build on past success and increase giving to

Calhoun this year.

The Development Team (L-R): Jessica Dudley,

David smith, Barbara Bernard, Rachel arky,

Bart Hale ’00, sonia Bonsu ’95

4 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Contributing to the Annual Fund is theone thing that parents, faculty and staff,alumnae/i, grandparents, former parentsand friends of Calhoun can do every yearto make sure Calhoun is the best it can be.That belief is what drives Annual FundCo-Chairs Andrea Booth (Jake, 10th,Cody, 2nd) and Liz Turner (Clare, 6th,Fiona, 3rd), and Susan and Rick Thomson(Isabelle, 7th, Aidan, 3rd), Co-Chairs ofthe Annual Fund’s Robert L. BeirLeadership Giving Society.*

Last year, for the 2009–10 campaign,more than 76 percent of parentscontributed to the Annual Fund—thehighest level of participation in Calhoun’shistory. But the goal this year is for 100percent parent participation, withincreased support from the wider Calhouncommunity as well. With that in mind,more than 60 Annual Fund committeevolunteers are reaching out to the entireCalhoun community to raise the essential,

unrestricted funds needed to bridge thegap between tuition and the cost ofrunning Calhoun’s unique educationalprogram.

Their hard work is already paying off.By October, 100 percent of Calhoun’sTrustees had already pledged their gifts tothe Annual Fund. And participation byfaculty and staff is up this year as well.“It’s pretty incredible to have theunwavering support and participation ofour teachers, staff and administrators,”says Liz. “When the people who work atthe school give so generously, it reallymotivates the rest of us to step up andgive to Calhoun.”

Andrea and Liz hope that each andevery family can turn its support for theschool and its mission into a gift to theAnnual Fund. They are encouraged by thereaction they’re getting from parents likeAngela and Barry Cohen, whose son,Zack, started in kindergarten this year.“We are fortunate to be a part of theCalhoun community,” write Angela andBarry, “and strongly believe that unlock-ing the unique potential in every childrequires all families to support Calhounthrough gifts of time, participation orcontributions to the Annual Fund. Zackhas had a year filled with discovery andtons of fun …We look forward to thejourney.”

The Annual Fund supports Calhoun’ssmall classes, rich and innovativeprogramming, and the team of dedicatededucators who help our children thrive.Andrea and Liz remind communitymembers that gifts of any size really domake a difference: “Calhoun is gratefulfor every single contribution to theAnnual Fund.”

Go to www.calhoun.org/annualfundfor more information; also find out aboutways of giving at www.calhoun.org/waysofgiving.

*The Robert L. Beir Society recognizes donorswho support the Annual Fund at the leader-ship level of $2,500 and above.

SchoolNewsCaLHOuN MOuRNsGaIL KOFF, TRusTEE

Calhoun’s dear friend and Trustee GailKoff passed away on August 31, 2010.The cause was complications ofleukemia.

Gail had struggled with cancer formany years, keeping the disease at baywhile maintaining a remarkably vibrantand generous presence in the lives of herchildren, her professional colleagues andher many friends in and outside ofCalhoun. In addition to her six years ofservice on Calhoun’s Board—three on theexecutive committee—Gail was a trusteeof the Bank Street School for Children formany years. “Her contributions toprogressive education have directly andindirectly affected the lives of thousandsof children, alegacy that willendure,” observedSteve Nelson,Calhoun’s Head ofSchool. “Hergentle wisdom andunfailing goodhumor would beadmirable qualitiesin any person, butseemed heroic inlight of the multiple challenges she facedin recent years.”

A distinguished lawyer and foundingpartner of Jacoby & Meyers, Gail was apioneer in making legal services morewidely available. She was awarded theHighest Leaf Award by the Women’sVenture Fund (2010), honored by theNational Association of Women BusinessOwners (2007) and received the CivicSpirit Award from the Women’s CityClub of New York (2002). WorkingWoman magazine named Jacoby &Meyers in their Top 500 Women-OwnedBusinesses of 1998 and the New YorkLaw Journal recognized Gail as one ofthe most influential lawyers in America.

She is survived by her children, WadeBrill ’07, Loren Brill and Micah Brill,and three brothers, Michael, Larry andPeter Koff.

Building the annual Fund, One Family at a Time

GRANDPARENTS/FRIENDS DAYWHEN: May 2011

WHERE: Robert L. Beir Lower School @ 74th Street

It’s become a much anticipated day when Little Calhoun invites grandparents and grandfriends

for a morning of classroom visits and welcomingremarks by Head of School Steve Nelson and Lower School Director Kathleen Clinesmith. This year’s event will be held in early May. If you are a grandparent or relative of a

Calhoun student in 3’s through first grade and would like an invitation (with date and details),

please send your e-mail address [email protected]

or call 212-497-6578.


It’s a Calhoun tradition that goes backmore than 50 years. But this year,Calhoun’s Benefit has a new leader, anew location and many other enhance-ments that will make it a night you won’twant to miss.

Melissa Liberty isthe new chair of theCalhoun 2011Benefit, which thisyear will celebrateCalhoun “Roaring’20s–Style.” Amother of threeboys—Jack (2nd),Jason (K) and Derek(hoping to enter the3’s this fall)—

Melissa is involved with the school onmany levels. Aside from having servedas a cluster parent, she volunteers on anumber of committees and efforts, includ-ing the Annual Fund, the DevelopmentCommittee, the Carnival raffle, admis-sions tours, and, for the last four years, asa member of the Benefit Committee. Lastspring, Melissa joined Calhoun’s Boardof Trustees.

As this year’s Benefit Chair, Melissais looking forward to an incredible party,complete with a speakeasy cocktail hour,live jazz, silent and live auctions, seateddinner, DJ and dancing. Guastavino’srestaurant, a New York landmark, is the

new site for the event and a perfectbackdrop for our Roaring ’20s theme. Anew addition this year will be the use ofwireless hand-held bidding devices for thesilent auction and Special Appeal.

Melissa emphasizes that the Benefit“is more than just a party. It is the onenight a year that we come together tocelebrate our children, our school and ourcommunity, and it is a vital element ofCalhoun’s fundraising efforts.” TheBenefit raised more than $570,000 lastyear, with one third of these funds comingfrom ticket sales. Which is why, she says,the most important way to support thisevent is to buy a ticket and come have agood time. All proceeds from the Benefitgo directly to support Calhoun and itsmission by helping to pay for competitiveteacher salaries, a robust financial aidprogram, small class sizes, our award-winning lunch program and topnotchfacilities.

The Calhoun Benefit is a volunteer-driven event. Melissa explains, “Thisevent could not happen without theunwavering support of the Calhouncommunity. I am humbled and so grate-ful for the team of more than 100 volun-teers, the faculty and staff who havealready contributed their time and talent,as well as families who have donatedincredible auction items and others whocontinue to underwrite expenses. I hope

SchoolNews

Pat Metheny, Grammy award–winning jazz

musician and Calhoun parent, brought his

one-man Orchestrion world tour to

Calhoun in October, in a special benefit

concert to support the school’s annual

Fund.

Earlier in the day, Pat performed

excerpts from his concert for Lower,

Middle and upper school students in three

separate assemblies, following each with a

question-and-answer session.

audience members were awestruck by

the extravagant set (reminiscent of a mad

scientist’s lab!), and the rich, layered

sound—produced by mechanized musical

instruments controlled entirely by Pat as

he improvised on his acoustic and electric

guitars. The concerts were particularly

thrilling in the intimacy of Calhoun’s

theater.

The Calhoun community thanks Pat for

his generosity, and for the support of those

who attended the benefit performance.

Jazz great Pat Metheny (center) with fellow Calhoun parents

and concert co-chairs, Melanie and Jason Griffith, at the

benefit concert’s post-show reception.

CELEBRaTE CaLHOuN, ROaRING ’20s-sTyLE, aT THE CaLHOuN BENEFIT

JOIN US FOR

Calhoun Benefit 2011!

Friday, March 11, 2011

7 PM –M I DN IGH T

Guastavino’s

409 EAST 59TH ST @ 1ST AVE

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVENING,

THE AUCT IONS, AND T ICKETS,

GO TO

WWW.CALHOUN.ORG/BENEF IT

Melissa Liberty,

Benefit 2011 Chair

METHENy PERFORMs BENEFIT CONCERT FOR CaLHOuN

that our entire community comes to thisevent and shows their support forCalhoun and its mission. That is what theevening is all about.”

6 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

WATER.ORG CO-FOUNDERS SPEAK AT CALHOUNMatt Damon and Gary White, co-founders ofWater.org, came to the Harvest Festival totalk to students and teachers about thedesperate need for fresh water and sanita-tion in third-world countries. In threeseparate assemblies, they talked to a rapt

audience about the fact that morepeople in the world have cellphones than toilets, and that every15 seconds, a child dies from lack ofclean water and sanitation. “Lack ofwater is an issue of health andhuman dignity,” noted Matt.Gary and Matt used Tic Tacs—

given to the students as theyentered the theater—as visuals toillustrate the magnitude of the

problem. “Who has a white Tic Tac?” askedGary, to a sea of hands. “Each of you repre-sents the one in eight people worldwide whodoes not have access to clean water orsanitary toilets.” Matt explained that thepoorest people in the world end up paying400 times more than New Yorkers for eachgallon of fresh water, but that the real costof providing one person with clean water forlife is only $25.

After a seriesof multimediapresentations,students wereinvited to lift jerrycans filled with water. Transporting thewater from its source to a village, they weretold, is often an all-day pursuit that keepschildren out of school.

A nonprofit organization, Water.org worksto transform hundreds of communities inAfrica, South Asia and Central America byproviding sustainable ways to access safewater and sanitation.

SchoolNews

1.NYC TAP WATER GETS THUMBS-UPlower school science

teacher amy landau led

students in a blind taste

test of tap, filtered and

bottled water samples.

New York City tap water

won as “best tasting,”

with 494 votes! Filtered

tap water took second

place, with 379 votes, and

evian bottled water

bottomed out, with only

312 nods.

2.WHAT GETS RECYCLED?environmental games

challenged kids to guess

which products get

recycled and which

composted. Cody Wolf,

second grade, with his

mom, andrea Booth, who

volunteered to help with

the day’s activities.

3.HOW CLEAN IS OUR WATER?eighth grader Jackson

Griffin found evidence of

paramecia (microorgan-

isms) in water samples

from a pond in Central

Park, collected by Ms

science teacher Joan

Gillman.

4.OIL AND WATER DON’T MIXa hands-on experiment

designed by senior

Miranda Watson asked

students to try to remove

vegetable oil from feath-

ers, to demonstrate the

impact of the Gulf oil spill

on birds. (l-r) second

graders Cody Wolf and

liam Hade; sixth grader

Maddie rubin; and fifth

grader Jake Madsen.

5.PETITION AGAINST HYDROFRACKINGCalhoun community

members were asked to

sign a petition to New

York legislators to ban

hydrofracking—a method

of extracting natural gas

from the earth that causes

severe water contamina-

tion. the petition was

created by ninth grader

Joeli Gay for her

Community action class.

as of November 2010, the

New York state assembly

had once again failed to

take up the hyrofracking

moratorium. (l-r) Jason

alejo ’14 and us spanish

teacher Hernan ortiz

helped gather signatures.

6. HANDMADE WATER FILTERS FOR THIRD-WORLD COMMUNITIESsometimes you have to

get your hands dirty in

order to get clean water!

Fifth grader teo torrado,

third grader abby Geissler

and second grader lauryn

Midgett enjoyed creating

water filters made of clay.

us art teacher Chris

Garcia explained how

mixing sawdust into clay

creates a porous filter for

any bacteria that is in the

water. these inexpensive

filters are used in many

third-world communities

to help sanitize the drink-

ing water.

Matt Damon, co-founder ofWater.org, spoke tostudents about the need toconserve water and supportdeveloping countries.

Harvest Festival 2010—Go Blue! the 2010 Harvest Festival, held on the day before thanksgiving, focused on this year’s theme,

Go Blue! Clean it. Conserve it. Respect it. a host of activities were designed to increase aware-

ness of issues about water—including climate change, inequity in terms of access, conservation and

legislation. students and teachers joined forces in cross-grade “family groups” to participate in

science and art projects. at 74th street, the younger children engaged with older students in water

play as well as thanksgiving-related activities that included reading stories, playing music, cooking

and enjoying cluster feasts.

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4

5

2

1 6


CALHOUN CARES ABOUT HUNGER Maggie LaMee, Carol Chiavetta and their daughter, third

grader Ella LaMee, were part of an enthusiastic group of

student, parent, and faculty volunteers who delivered

annual Food Drive donations to the West side Campaign

against Hunger food pantry on West 86th street and West

End avenue. after Harvest Festival activities drew to a close, the spirited group stocked the

shelves of the food pantry with a record amount of donations—more than ten huge boxes!

SchoolNews

Bruno Tremblay Talks about the arctic Climate ChangeBy John L. Roeder

Humans have been monitoring the evolution of ice in the Arctic by land-based measurements since1880 and by satellite for the past 30 years. Bruno Tremblay, who has been part of that effort asprofessor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at McGill University in Montreal, spoke to UpperSchoolers about the significance of their recent findings at a November 19 Town Meeting.

Tremblay showed a graph of the Arctic ice cover, which indicated a steady decline in the last fewdecades with a severe drop in September 2007. This sudden drop is attributed to the fact that the

satellite measurements were still detecting anice cover while the density of the ice wasmelting away—until the cover meltedcompletely.

The cause for the increased melting ofArctic ice is believed to be the increasedemissions of carbon dioxide into the atmos-phere, from the combustion of fossil fuels thatunderpins our lifestyle and our economy.Carbon dioxide acts as a blanket to warm theearth, Tremblay explained, and the earth’sclimate can stabilize only if the concentrationof carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stabilizes.

Tremblay pointed out that the decrease ofArctic ice since 1990 has been greater than

expected. One of the reasons he cited for this is the fact that ice, with its white shiny cover, reflectsincident sunlight and the heat that comes with it; but when the ice melts, it becomes dark water,which absorbs more of the incident sunlight and its accompanying heat. This acts to increase thetemperature and melt even more ice, in a process known as positive feedback.

Since Arctic ice is already in the water, Tremblay observed that its melting will not increase sealevels. But retreating ice also leaves its effect on land through coastal erosion—and it reduces thehabitat of wildlife.

Bruno Tremblay, professor of atmospheric and oceanic

sciences at McGill university, spoke to upper schoolers

about the impact of climate change in the arctic.

HAITI CLUB CONTINUES SUPPORTFOR PELIGRE SCHOOL OF HOPE

The upper school Haiti Club, now in its second year,

organized a toy drive for the children at the Peligre

school of Hope this fall, followed by a collection

for school supplies after winter break. Donations

are being hand-delivered to the school by Calhoun

parent Dr. Deborah Ottenheimer, who has devel-

oped a relationship with the Peligre Hope

Foundation.

(Right) Haiti Club members sold handmade crafts

at the Pa’s Holiday arts & Crafts Fair, to raise

additional funds for the Peligre school of Hope.

(L-R): Madeline Gordon ’14, aiyana Wain-

Hirschberg ’11, sarah Mozeson ’11, Miranda

Watson ’11 and Nica Delbaurgo ’14.

upper schoolers support Women in Need

Thrift Calhoun, an Upper School club organ-ized by seniors Tess Harris and Alex Kayden,organizes “thrift store” events to benefitWomen in Need, an organization that providesNew York City’s homeless women and theirfamilies with safe, clean housing, and theskills and support to become self-reliant. Thefirst event made $500 for the organization;additional thrift store events are being plannedfor this spring.

Library LaunchesLunchtime Recital series

Noah Krauss (left),Calhoun eighth graderand award-winningcellist, was the firstguest artist for therecently launchedLibrary Recital Series.He played a Bachunaccompanied suite.

This new programwill welcome anyoneand everyone: LS, MS

and US students as well as staff and facultyfrom around the building. These “intimate”programs will take place every month or twothroughout the school year. The most recentconcert featured students from the US ChamberMusic Class, who played selections by Bach,Weill and Bizet.

IT’S COMMON CENTS!an impressive $2,000 was collected for this year’s Penny

Harvest for Common Cents, a national organization

that promotes philanthropy and community service learn-

ing among children. Common Cents awards grants to

schools that hit their designated goals and allow

the students to allocate the money to their favorite

causes. stay tuned for where Calhoun donates the

grant! (L-R) Kindergarteners Olivia Ruiz, Cooper stock and

Jacob Hume were wowed by the bounty.

SchoolNews

8 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

ByLINEsFormer Headmistress (andnamesake) Mary Calhoun nowhas a book available for e-readers!

Originally printed in 1915, Readings

from American Literature is available

online and on the 81st street

Library’s Kindle. The book was origi-

nally published in 1915 by Harvard’s

Journal of Education and includes selections of stories,

poems and essays from colonial days to the early 1900s.

Gary Joseph Cohen, US art/photography/videoteacher, will have one of his poems published in the fall2011 issue of Euphony, a university of Chicago literary

journal that features new and established writers from

around the country. This is the second time that Gary will

have had his poetry published in Euphony. In addition, an

online journal called Ancora Imparo is publishing a

portfolio of Gary’s environmental portraiture from asia

and america, accompanied by an essay he wrote on the

process of thinking/making the images.

Issiaka Diakite, US Frenchteacher, had his newest playpublished by Outskirts Press. Written

in French and English, Sunjata, the

Lion: The Day When the Spoken Word

Was Set Free focuses on the historical

character sunjata, founder of the

Mali empire and the griot tradition in

medieval West africa. “The griot is a storyteller, musician,

messenger and keeper of the traditional memory,”

explains Issiaka. “In the play, I use epic and historical

events to explore contemporary issues.” Issiaka, who is

originally from the Ivory Coast, has his PhD from the

university of Louisiana in French and francophone studies.

He spent a number of years teaching in his native country

and then Louisiana before coming this year to Calhoun. In

addition to this most recent play, Issiaka is also the

author of Sisyphe...L’Africain (Sisyphus...the African), a

French-language novel published by L’Harmattan Press in

2008.

Head of School Steve Nelson is now a frequentblogger on educational topics for The Huffington Post.

Many of the same columns are featured on Calhoun’s

website at www.calhoun.org/stevesblog.

Calhoun alums continue to make contributions to the

literary world. Mary-Ellen Greenberger Siegel ’49authored a booklet titled Breast Cancer Today: A Guide

for Breast Patients; Ben Ellentuck ’10 was named asone of ten winners in the 2010 young Playwrights

Competition for his play The Human Heart; and an autobi-

ographical essay by Jackie Katz ’10 will see print inFebruary as part of the compilation Live and Let Love by

andrea Buchanan (simon & schuster). For more details

about these Calhoun authors, flip to Alumnae/i Class

Notes on page 30.

Calhoun Hosts Evenings with amy Goodman and Gail CollinsCalhoun’s Performing Arts Series hosted two well-knownauthors this year as part of its Talk series, which is open tothe public.

Launching the season was Amy Goodman, bestsellingauthor and award-winning executive producer and host ofthe national independent news program Democracy Now!Ms. Goodman addressed the role of independent media inpromoting social justice, referencing anecdotes from her online columns, published in Breaking theSound Barrier.

In December, New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins came to speak about her latest book,When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, inwhich she chronicles the last 50 years of women’s history. Included in the book are accounts byCalhoun's Upper School Dean of Students, Alison Foster, who lived through the college years ofpeace, love and protest as a baby boomer and the daughter of a pioneering advertising-exec mom.

Both events were well attended by members of Calhoun’s community, as well as by alumnae/i,former parents and neighbors.

Calhoun’s Performing Arts Series hosts concerts, dance, lectures, town hall meetings, documen-tary films and children’s theater—all open to the public. For the complete schedule of upcomingevents, go to www.calhoun.org/performingarts.

amy Goodman Gail Collins

CaLHOuN MaRKs BaNNED BOOKs WEEK

Calhoun’s librarians turned the spotlight on “challenged books” in honor of Banned Books Week,September 25 to October 2—an annual celebration of the freedom to read.

Ali Werner, Calhoun’s Director of Library and Learning Resources, organized the event to makethe Calhoun community aware that “in some libraries, ‘challenges’ are brought against books thatcontain unpopular or unorthodox ideas. I hope to engage the community in a conversation about thebenefits and responsibilities of intellectual freedom.”

Ali pointed out that some of the most beloved books are also some of the most frequentlychallenged. “The books in the Harry Potter series have been challenged in many libraries becausethey contain witchcraft. To Kill a Mockingbird is frequently challenged because it contains racistthemes.” Other books include The Catcher in the Rye, The Golden Compass and Sylvester and theMagic Pebble.

“The most important thing is to be aware of challenged books and to appreciate our freedom toread,” says Ali.

ali Werner, Director of

Library and Learning

Resources (right), and

Jenny Han, Library

assistant, turned the

spotlight on banned

books.

9

SchoolNewsFiona Lowenstein ’12 Presents at TEDx Conference

Fiona Lowenstein ’12 was afeatured speaker at a recentTEDx youth conference,bringing a powerful messageto students (and adults) aboutthe importance of taking

chances and pursuing what you want. Her inspi-rational presentation, available online, is listedon the Calhoun YouTube page as one of our“favorites” (www.youtube.com/calhoun).

TED is a nonprofit organization dedicated tobringing together the world’s most fascinatingthinkers and doers. Based on the TED-likeexperience, TEDx events are coordinatedindependently, on a community-by-communitybasis. The conference at which Fiona spoke washeld at the Hewitt School in Manhattan.

us Journalism Class Goes Live with E-NewspaperStudents in an Upper School journalism electivetaught by Head of School Steve Nelson tooktheir studies one step further this year by creat-ing their own online newspaper, The CalhounInquirer.

The design of the newpaper’s website as wellas the assignment of articles, writing, editing andphoto selection were the culmination of thestudents’ work for the one-mod electiveJournalism: That’s What You Think.

The primary focus of the elective course wason learning how to write opinion pieces:Students identified a newsworthy event of local or international conse-quence, researched and debated the issue, and ended each discussion bywriting an op-ed piece or letter to the editor.

Two students—Robert Ronan ’11 and John Hale ’11—had their lettersabout federal aviation security policies printed in The New York Times(Nov. 14, 2010).

The online newspaper, however required the students to focus onwriting news items as well as opinion pieces. Interestingly, it was the fact-based news that the students found hardest to write. “It’s difficult to writean article without any bias,” observes Robert, who admitted the studentsstruggled with those assignments. “But I think it turned out well.”

Read The Calhoun Inquirer, published by mod-2 journalism students,http://calhouninquirer.com.

Journalism students Robert Ronan ’11 and John Hale ’11 had

their letters to the editor printed in The New York Times.

Ms Lit Mag spotlights student authorsCrestomathy, a new Middle School literary magazinelaunched last year by English teacher Larry Sandomir, isgaining enthusiastic support from fellow teachers andstudents, and has expanded its list of contributors tostudents from sixth through eighth grades.

Selections in the first issues of Crestomathy weremostly taken from assignments in seventh grade Englishand eighth grade creative writing classes. The first issue,last winter, focused on essays and poems about love; forseventh graders, the assignment was inspired by theirreading of Romeo and Juliet. For the eighth graders, itcame shortly after Valentine’s Day, in a class where theydid free-writing to music. The Spring 2010 issue ofCrestomathy offered a mix of subjects that included lifephilosophies and advice to siblings. The latest issue ismore eclectic, with essays, poems and short storiessubmitted by a wider range of students, who are clearlyexcited about seeing their work in print.

See excerpts from recent issues of Crestomathy atwww.calhoun.org/crestomathy.

MIDDLE sCHOOL WELCOMEs auTHOR REBECCa sTEaDBy Ali Werner

Newbery Award–winning author Rebecca Steadvisited the Middle School on December 10. Atthe assembly, Rebecca described her journey tobecoming a writer and read aloud from the diaryshe kept when she was eight years old. Rebeccaspoke about her writing process and her inspira-tions. She explained that her book When YouReach Me was inspired by a New York Timesarticle about a man who suffered from amnesia.Rebecca is fascinated by imagining time traveland the possibility of influencing future events.Many Calhoun students asked Rebecca questionsand those who had read When You Reach Mewere curious about the many plot twists. So farthis year, the library has hosted student bookclubs, writing clubs, author visits, musicperformances and book shares. We look forwardto more literary events in 2011!

What We’re Reading

Check out some of the articles Calhoun’s

teachers and administrators are reading, at

www.calhoun.org/wwr. Topics include

progressive education pedagogy, teaching

tolerance, and teaching and learning mathe-

matics, and a recent article, “What Makes a

Great Teacher?” (The Atlantic, Jan./Feb. 2010).

10 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

sabrina spiegel ’06 Named school Nurse & Health Educator

Calhoun alumna SabrinaSpiegel ’06 has been named tothe new position of school nurseand health educator, responsiblefor managing all medicalrecords, health policies and

health-related activities. In addition to providinginitial assessment for illnesses and injuries tostudents from second through twelfth grade, shewill be responsible for overseeing policy andrecord-keeping at 74th Street.

A significant part of Sabrina’s role willalso be to participate in the further developmentand execution of Calhoun’s health curriculum—work that she began as an intern at Calhoun lastyear. “During her internship, Sabrina demon-strated skill and vision by producing wonderfulrecommendations for the very programs she willnow help develop,” notes Head of School SteveNelson. In her support of the health curriculum,she will work closely with Michael Worth,Francesca Canin, Alison Foster, DavidBartolacci and others.

Sabrina received her undergraduate degreeand training at New York University’s College ofNursing, where she was a University HonorsScholar. As an alum, she has been activelyengaged with Calhoun; she is in her fourth yearas an athletics coach, having led the Girls’ JVVarsity Volleyball Team to the semifinals this fall,and currently serves as an assistant coach to theGirls’ Varsity Basketball Team.

“I have two hearts,” says Mirta Medina deDrake, Upper School Spanish teacher. “Oneheart is at Calhoun and the second heart is in apoor neighborhood in Buenos Aires. My life is abridge from the South to the North.”

Mirta has kept close ties to her home countryof Argentina, where she volunteers everysummer for a number of educational institutionsand social activist organizations—primarily LaFábrica de Manufacturie.

La Fábrica works to “restore the memory” ofthe 30,000 people who went missing or werekilled under the dictatorship of Jorge RafaelVidela, commander in chief of the Argentineanarmy; Orlando Ramón Agosti, air forcecommander; and Emilio Eduardo Massera, navycommander. The three-man military juntadeposed President Isabel Perón in March 1976.Mirta, who writes biographies and collectspictures of the missing, spends most of her timeamassing information about women who disap-peared during that time. “The dictatorship washard on everyone, but women especially,” saysMirta.

Mirta is currently working with a group of LaFábrica writers and visual artists to create an artinstallation that includes the biographies of thepeople who are missing. “We’re trying tocomplete the story. It’s a gap in the memory ofmy country,” says Mirta.

La Fábrica has been granted permission fromthe government to open a free school for streetkids—“los niños de la calle”—in one of theabandoned factories in Buenos Aires. At first, thebuilding was in disrepair, but after heavy machin-ery was moved out and it was cleaned and

SchoolNews F A C U L T Y / S T A F F N E W S M A K E R S

steve Nelson Brings Progressive Values to International spotlight

Head of school steve Nelson was one of the featured speakers at a conference for educators hosted

by the King alfred school society (Kass) in London, entitled “What Does It Mean to Be Well-

Educated?”

steve was joined on the London panel by some of the top educators in the uK, including Frank

Furedi, the uK’s most widely quoted sociologist and author of Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating;

Dr. Catherine Burke, senior lecturer at the university of Cambridge; stephen Law, editor of the Royal

society of Philosophy’s magazine Think; John White, emeritus professor at the Institute of Education;

Kathryn Ecclestone, professor of education and social inclusion, university of Birmingham; and

uNICEF’s Frances Beastley. Chairing the conference was BBC radio producer Piers Plowright.

Mirta Medina de DrakeHas Heart

painted, the factory began offering free classesfor 24 homeless children from ages 9 to 16.

During the Argentinean school year, five full-time teacher volunteers—who hail from all overthe world—do everything for the school, includ-ing meal preparation. Mirta and her colleaguesinstruct the younger children in reading andwriting, while helping older students learn skillsthat will prepare them for the workforce. Mirtaalso teaches Spanish for native speakers, movie-making, short-story writing and scriptwriting.“The work at that school has made me a betterteacher and human being,” says Mirta, whoplans to return to Argentina this summer tocontinue her work as an activist.

The Upper School Spanish teacher is also theauthor of two novels, La Rubia de Kentucky andLos Juegos Siniestros Argentinos, which won anaward from the Fondo Nacional de las Artes inArgentina.

“This is what I do to keep busy,” says Mirta.“I don’t like to go shopping.”

Calhoun a Must-see for Educators

Educators from the U.S. and overseas makeCalhoun one of the must-see schools on theiritinerary when checking out leading institu-tions in progressive education.In 2010 alone, Calhoun had delegations

from Iceland, China, Korea, Australia andNorway, as well as visitors from local publicmagnet schools and independent schoolsfrom Boston to California.One principal, from the Mount Evelyn

Primary School in Australia, called Calhounthe highlight of his trip. “[Calhoun] has placedthe highest importance on ways schools areseeking to individualize student learning,rather than a one-size-fits-all formula.”

11

SchoolNews

T H E C A L H O U N C H R O N I C L E

KUDOS!

“Teens Turning Green,” a student-ledadvocacy group in Northern Californiathat has launched a campaign to eliminatebreaded, fried, frozen and “reheated so-calledmeat” from school lunches, credited CHEFBOBO with making Calhoun’s lunch program“one of the foremost green school lunchprograms in the country,” at a Novemberevent where he was a featured guest.

BEN CLINESMITH’s string orchestra arrange-ment forstudents“S’vivon” wasdubbed aneditor’s choiceby JW Pepper,the largestdistributor ofschool music.A livelyarrangement ofan Israeli folk

song, “S’vivon” premiered at Calhoun’s 2009Community Orchestra Holiday Concert.Ben has been teaching music at Calhoun since1991 and is the conductor of Calhoun’s all-school and community orchestras. He alsocreated the Sing-It, Say-It curriculum in theLower School, which introduces Calhoun’syoungest children to reading and writingthrough music.

US theater teachers MARGIE DUFFIELD andMARC AUBIN presented a three-hour master

class called “TheatreTech and theDirector/DesignerDialogue” to 23InternationalBaccalaureate (IB)students from aroundthe country, for anevent organized by

the International Schools Theatre Association(ISTA). Margie talked about directing whileMarc walked the students through the art ofset design and lighting. The two Calhounteachers form a formidable team: Last

summer, Margie directed and Marc was stagedesigner for the original play Viva laEvolución¡, performed at the SoHo Playhouseas part of the New York International FringeFestival. The duo also staged a reading ofMargie’s musical Sit-In at the Five-and-Dimelast October, as part of Calhoun’s PerformingArts Series. Margie wrote the book and lyricsfor this coming-of-age journey set against thebackdrop of the Jim Crow South and theburgeoning civil rights movement.

FRANCESCO FILIACI, US biology teacher,represents Calhoun on the Board ofRepresentatives of the Black Rock ForestConsortium. The consortium provides acenter for research and teaching at the forestpreserve’s facilities and through an informa-tion network that links students, researchers,teachers, administrators and institutions.

In late September, ANGELA FISCHER, commu-nications associate and assistant to the Headof School, won the Female Masters’ Divisionin the Yonkers Marathon—the second-oldestmarathon in the U.S., after Boston. “It wasn’tmy best time because the course is extremelyhilly—one of the harder ones in the U.S.—butI am thrilled at having won the Masters andplacing third overall among women marathon-ers,” says Angela.

US art teacher JESSICA HOUSTON, who wasrecently included in the inaugural exhibitionof the New Jersey Museum of ContemporaryArt (NJMoCA), left Calhoun in January tostart a family (she is expecting twins in latespring!) and to pursue her promising career asa fine artist. At press time, Jessica was a final-ist for a prestigious grant from the Rema HortMann Foundation, a program dedicated tosupporting emerging visual artists in NewYork City, with selection committee membersfrom MoMA, the Studio Museum and theNew Museum. Her position in the UpperSchool is being filled by Hailey Kim, who hasa BFA from the Rhode Island School ofDesign and is completing her MA at TeachersCollege.

Kindergarten teacher STEPHAN KOLBERT ’86spent two days at the TEDWomen conferencein Washington, D.C., in December, leadingyoga and wellness classes for conferenceattendees. Stephan, who has a private yogapractice in addition to his teaching career,received his training from Urban Zen, anorganization founded by Donna Karan and aco-sponsor of TEDWomen. Last year he wasinvolved in a pilot study with Urban Zen,working at Beth Israel Hospital doing yogaand breath awareness with patients in theoncology unit and in surgery. He also doesyoga and meditation with incarcerated youthin the Bronx.

KEIRA ROGERS, Assistant MS Director andhumanities teacher, was aspeaker at the 2010 NationalAssociation of IndependentSchools’ People of ColorConference (PoCC) in SanDiego. Her presentation,which had been a big

success at the regional NYSAIS conference,was titled “Hip-Hop, Race and Middle SchoolStudents in a 21st Century IndependentSchool.” The PoCC is the flagship event ofNAIS’s equity and justice initiatives. DANIELERCILLA, LS Spanish teacher, and VICTORLIN, music teacher, also represented Calhounat the conference.

One of Calhoun’s music teachers, MEIGHANSTOOPS, made one ofNational PublicRadio’s Top Five listsfor 2010! NPR choseMeighan’s latest CDrelease with herchamber group, DaCapo ChamberPlayers, as one of the

Five Best Contemporary Classical Albums of2010. The album, Luminous Spirals: ChamberMusic of Chinary Ung, is available forpurchase on Amazon. Meighan, who is in herfirst year at Calhoun, teaches clarinet andsaxophone to Middle and Upper Schoolstudents, and is also an administrative assis-tant to Upper School Director Jen de Forest.

SchoolNews

12 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Calhoun is a safe space! This past October, Calhoun’s Middle and

Upper School students participated in AllyWeek. Middle and Upper School students wereinvited to wear stickers identifying themselvesas allies against anti-LGBT behavior, and onOctober 20, the entire community wore purpleas part of a nationwide day of remembrancefor the young people who had taken their livesas the result of LGBT bullying and harassment.

At Lower School/74th Street, the discussionwasn’t about hate crimes, but about “how totreat each other,” explains Megan McDonnell,LS/74th theater teacher. In each of hertheater/movement classes, Megan read WordsAre Not for Hurting by Elizabeth Verdick to

the students, and then invited the children,fellow teachers and parents to participate in a“kindness tree” project by inscribing personalacts of kindness on cut-out leaves, to be postedon a hand-crafted tree in the school’s lobby.The project was inspired by Yoko Ono’s WishTree in the courtyard at MoMA.

The week culminated in a “Dance forAcceptance,” hosted by the Upper School’sQueer/Straight Partnership club and open tohigh school students from around the city.The dance raised nearly $400 for the TrueColors Residence, the first permanenthousing facility for LGBT youth in NewYork State, slated to open in central Harlemin spring 2011.

1 2

1. students in all divisions, including these Ls/74th

street children, dressed in purple as part of ally Week.

2. Megan McDonnell, Ls/74th theater teacher, read to

students from the book Words Are Not for Hurting.

3. First grader Luca schindler adds a leaf to a “kindness

tree”—children at 74th street created paper leaves

inscribed with personal acts of kindness and added

them to the tree throughout the fall.

3

Hilary North Promotes ally Behavior on PIX11 News Closeup

Diversity Director Hilary North appeared on PIX11 News Closeup in October, in a discussion abouthate crimes and gay bashing that came on the heels of a rash of suicides by young gay studentsacross the country.

Facilitated by WPIX anchor Marvin Scott, the discussion panel also included Jeffrey Gardere,psychologist; and Anthony Ramos, communications director, Gay Lesbian and Straight EducationNetwork (GLSEN).

Asked what schools can do to teach tolerance, Hilary noted that the real goal is to teach accept-ance, and to help students understand the value of and need for “ally” behavior—standing up forthose who are being bullied or marginalized. She pointed out that Calhoun was in the middle of aweeklong series of activities and assemblies in honor of Ally Week and National Coming Out Day toadvance the school’s initiatives.

Calhoun Participates in ally Week

Coveted Internship Inspires stephen Mondesir ’13

Stephen Mondesir ’13scored a journalism intern-ship this past fall with theNew York Association ofBlack Journalists’ “FirstTake” program. “FirstTake” interns hit the streets

in teams of three students and two mentors,divvying up duties that include photography,conducting interviews and filming/ recordingevents. Stephen, who was quite taken with thephotography aspect of the process, says theexperience helped him break out of his shell. “I feel as if the experience made me overcomesome of my shyness,” says Stephen. “Whenyou are interviewing people on the street, youhave to speak out.” Though it was only asemester-long internship, Stephen hopes tocontinue working with NYABJ in some capacityfor the remainder of the year.

BRIaN KOPPELMaN OFFERs TIPsTO us sCREENWRITING CLass

Calhoun’s Upper Schoolscreenwriting students got anopportunity most aspiringfilmmakers can only dreamof—a class with BrianKoppelman, who has writtenand/or directed such films as

Ocean’s Thirteen, Rounders and Solitary Man.A Calhoun parent, Brian visited Bobby Rue’sUpper School screenwriting class in October tooffer tips on story development, character andtheme.

Internships Wanted

Calhoun is always looking for internships

for its seniors and recent graduates.

If you or your company has an internship

opportunity, please submit details

to our online Internship Bank, at

www.calhoun.org/internshipbank,

or contact Lavern McDonald,

us associate Director,

[email protected],

212-497-6517.

LS HOLIDAY WINTER CONCERT HOLIDAY STRINGS CONCERT

US THEATER: THE CRUCIBLE


CalhounOnstageEIGHTH GRADE: AMERICAN DRA

MA

GIO

VANNI PA

CIFIC

I

MARC CALC

ANO

MORE PHOTOs ONLINEwww.calhoun.org/media

14 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Ms Girls’ Volleyball Team Makes Calhoun HistoryThis year’s MS Girls’ Volleyball Team was the best we’ve everseen in Calhoun history—finishing in second place in league play.The girls’ strong performance brought them to the first round ofthe tournament semifinals, where they were able to easily knockoff Dalton. In the ISAL championship, however, the Cougars lost aheartbreaker to UNIS. Despite seventh grader Hilda Ruiz steppingit up game after game, the Cougars fell just short.

“It is very rare to see players bump, set and spike on the middleschool level,” says David Bartolacci, Calhoun’s Athletic Director.“But we saw these girls doing it repeatedly. That last game was anabsolute thriller—one of those games where you hate to see anyonelose. I am so proud of them and appreciate all the hard workChristina Fenaroli put in during her first year coaching this team.”

SchoolNews S P O R T S

Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Takes First with undefeated League seasonThe Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Team was on firethis year, taking first place and dominating theleague—finishing with a record of 8-0 and anoverall record of 13-3. Unfortunately, in theISAL semifinals, Calhoun was upset by YorkPrep, 2–1. The Cougars started out strong,winning the first set 25–19, but could not

bounce back after a shaky middle set. They losta nail-biting final set (despite rallying at the end)by a score of 25–23.

“We met each challenge with a lot of poise,”says Coach Karen Brauer. “The future is brightas we have all but one player, senior AlexKayden, returning next year.”

Meanwhile, the Girls’ JV team had its shareof success this season, as they also qualified forthe ISAL playoffs. They, too, were knocked offin the semifinals, losing to a strong UNIS team.But their league play, with rigorous coachingfrom Calhoun alums Sabrina Spiegel ‘06 andPeter Zurkuhlen ‘06, clearly paid off!

This year's Girls' Varsity

Volleyball Team (far left)

proved to be a power-

house, taking on the

competition by storm.

(Left) Tenth grader Tiareh

Cruz helped lead the

Cougars to first place.

MORE PHOTOs ONLINEwww.calhoun.org/media


Ever dream of taking yoga for physical educa-tion credit? Now you can! As of this schoolyear, Calhoun Upper School students have fivedifferent options for fulfilling required P.E.credits: enrolling in a class at school, participat-ing on a school team, joining a non-Calhounteam, engaging in an outside activity/class, orbeing part of one of Calhoun’s after-schoolrecreation clubs, like Run-4-Fun.

Outside activities that have been chosen bystudents so far this year have included horsebackriding, spinning classes and working with apersonal trainer. However, there is one catch—students can’t do the same activity for two mods

(terms) in a row. “If students want to continueto take yoga for more than one mod, they can,”explains David Bartolacci, Director of Athletics,“but they have to try another form of yoga forthe second mod.”

The phys ed department has also imple-mented a new approach to its in-school classesby allowing students as a class to decide thetypes of activities they would like to learn withinthe given mod. “We give them a little freedomso they can pursue something they’re interestedin,” explains David. “The biggest goal is to getevery kid active and to stay active over thecourse of the year. So far it has been great!”

SchoolNews

BOYS’ VARSITYSOCCERCalhoun would like to

acknowledge seniors

Ray Collins, Jeff From,

Willy Kane, Chris Kelly,

andrew Luzmore

(pictured) and Ryan

Parker. Thank you for

your hard work and

commitment over the

past several years. you

will be missed!

“We love supporting the programs, administrators

and teachers who make Calhoun such a special community.” Debra Stone and David Glaser

Emily, Class of 2010

www.calhoun.org/onlinegiving

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’VARSITY CROSSCOUNTRYGo, Cougars, go! Both

Varsity Cross Country

teams were very young

this year, but still did a

tremendous job.

several freshmen in the

program, including

Jason alejo ’14 (left),

continually improved

their times over the

course of the season,

boding well for next

year.

Phys Ed Department Offers New Ways to Get Credit

GIRLS’ VARSITY SOCCER TEAM MAKES DEBUTCalhoun had an exciting new

addition this fall—the inaugural

season of Calhoun’s first Girls’

soccer Team! Previously, boys

and girls played together on

the IsaL varsity team. “We are

always looking to increase the

offerings at Calhoun,

especially for female athletes,”

says David Bartolacci,

Calhoun’s athletic Director.

David notes that the team

operated more like a club this

year, since the Cougars had

not officially entered the

league. But the ball is

already rolling for league

status as of next season. “I

was pleased that the turnout

for players was so high this

year and the commitment

level did not waiver,” says

David, “because we now

have the momentum to

continue the program.”

What do you remember of your school days? That’s a

question that Head of School Steve Nelson asks every year

when addressing prospective Calhoun families. And

inevitably, recollections come pouring back with anecdotes

of favorite teachers who inspired, guided, excited and

instilled a confidence to learn, take risks and achieve. This

issue of The Calhoun Chronicle is a celebration of those

dedicated teachers. And it is a particularly timely subject.

Celebrating Teachers

First, we are thrilled that an unprecedented number of alumnae/i have returned to our community as teachers,

administrators, coaches and even President of the Board of Trustees (Eric Potoker ’85); it is a testament to the strong

ties and positive educational experiences they had at Calhoun. And despite the years that divide them and the diver-

sity of areas in which they are working, they all share an enthusiasm for their careers, for Calhoun’s unique educa-

tional mission and for the teachers who guided them—including Upper School science teacher John Roeder, now in

his 37th year!

The second reason for this timely celebration has a lot to do with today’s political landscape, in which politicians,

business managers and the media are weighing in on how to solve the problems of our schools. All agree that public

education is in crisis. But is anyone listening to the solutions offered by educators and scientists, who are gaining new

insights every day into how children learn? Is anyone talking to the teachers who are working with our children?

Teaching is an art. Teachers are professionals. And great teachers are rare. We are privileged, then, to have so many

wonderful, dedicated teachers at Calhoun. It’s best expressed by Calhoun alumna Barbara Williams Fullard ’66, a 32-

year veteran of an inner-city school in Washington, D.C. (see page 34), who reminds us what teaching is really about.

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone can be a teacher. A person can take classes and hone

the skills that he or she already has. New techniques can be learned. However, I have seen too

many people enter a school in the morning and walk out of the building by lunchtime, never to

return. The career is challenging and thankless at times. It’s a talent for an educator to impart

more than just book knowledge. The teacher is the guide to some of the mysteries of human

nature. He or she is the facilitator by which the student develops the means to think. That is a

powerful weapon against ignorance, prejudice, hopelessness and despair. If one can think criti-

cally, one can create in a positive way…and the world can become a better place.

In these pages, you’ll read many stories about dedicated and multi-talented teachers—those who work at

Calhoun as well as those who have gone on from Calhoun to become successful educators elsewhere (see Alumnae/i

News, page 32). But what’s not said should be noted here in heartfelt dedication to all great teachers, everywhere:

Thank you.


not everyone can be a teacher

18 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

John RoedeR

Cluster Advisor

US science teacher

AlumTeachersStephAn KolbeRt ’86

Kindergarten teacher

employee since 2005

bA, Ithaca College

MA, nYU

Calhoun lifer (1st–12th)

bobbY RUe ’85

US english/social studies teacher

employee since 2005

bA, haverford

MA, bread loaf School of english

Seven years at Calhoun (6th–12th)

debbIe hAvAS ARonSon ’79

director of Community Service;

teacher of US and MS electives

employee since 1988

Former ASp director and

Alumnae/i director

bS, Indiana University

two years at Calhoun (11th–12th)

AlISon MAx ’85

Co-director of lower School

employee since 1989

Former K & 1st grade teacher

bA, Skidmore College

MA, teachers College

Calhoun ultimate lifer! (3’s–12th)

lISA GIlbeRt ’81

third grade language arts teacher

employee since 1990

Former 3’s, 4’s, K teacher

bA, tulane University

MS, bank Street College

Seven years at Calhoun (6th–12th)

hAnnAh SCARRItt-SelMAn ’05

lS associate teacher

employee since 2010

bA, Mount holyoke

Calhoun lifer (K–12th)

AMY lAndAU [’84]

lS science teacher

employee since 2007

bA, bowdoin College

MA, nYU

Seven years at Calhoun (pre-K–5th)

heAtheR SAYleS JUpIteR ’92

4’s teacher

employee since 2002

bA, George Washington University

Four years at Calhoun (9th–12th)

bARt hAle ’00

Alumnae/i Relations Coordinator

employee since 2010

bA, Colgate University

Calhoun lifer (4’s-12th)

SonIA bonSU ’95

Annual Giving director

employee since 2008

bA, harvard University

Jd, Fordham University School of law

Six years at Calhoun (7th–12th)

ShAnIqUoA elRInGton ‘96

Admissions Coordinator/81st St.

employee since 2010

bA, Cornell University

MA in progress


[Missing newcomer]

SAbRInA SpIeGel ’06

School nurse & health educator

employee since 2011

bS, nYU College of nursing


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3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Alum Administrators

John’s Cluster

4

9

12

10

2 3

16

5

7

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Did you always want to be ateacher?

Lisa: I had spent five years in thegarment business when one of thestock ma rket crashes hit in the ’80s;they let go of 50 percent of thestaff in one day. I was interviewingwith Norma Kamali, Calvin Klein,Ralph Lauren … and I should havebeen excited, but I just wasn’tfeeling inspired. I had been sayingfor years, “Oh, I work for such-and-such company making clothes butI’ve always wanted to be a nurseryschool teacher.” That would comeout of my mouth almost every timesomebody asked me what my jobwas. So finally I said, “You knowwhat? I need to go be a nurseryschool teacher; I don’t care whatthe salaries are.” So I went back tograduate school.

Stephan: I went into educationfairly soon after graduatingcollege; I started working at campsduring the summertime, gotinvolved in experiential-type learn-ing [Outward Bound] and anumber of mentoring projects[New York Youth at Risk and thenthe Anti-Defamation League’sWorld of Difference program]. I

went back to grad school, andthen returned to a childhood loveof theater and acting. So I wasn’ta classroom teacher for some time,but I was involved with educationin a lot of different ways. Inhindsight, all the theater training Idid made me a better teacher,because it forced me to be “outthere” and fearless in a way thatyou need to be in front of anygroup of people—parents or kids.

Hannah: I always liked workingwith kids, but this has been anunexpected joy. The biggest factorin finding the teaching path wascoming back to Calhoun andworking as a substitute teacher. Iwas able to see from a differentperspective how incredible theinteraction with students is, nomatter the grade level. In eachclassroom, there is a constantdialogue between families, students,teachers and administration thatmakes it a warm environment. Theexcitement is contagious themoment you step into Little or BigCalhoun.

Heather: When I think back on itnow, I was always working withchildren: I babysat, worked atsummer camp, taught swimmingand gave horseback riding lessons. I

didn’t actually have a plan to be ateacher. I’d been riding competi-tively on GeorgeWashingtonUniversity’s equestrian team, andwhen I graduated, my coachsuggested that I stay in the area,continue riding and competing, andsee what I could do with that. So Ibegan training and teaching horse-back riding. The property where thehorse farm was located had a smallschool on it. One day my coachsaid, “We need a substituteteacher; we need an adult in theretomorrow.” I went in that day andit was like, “Oh, this is what I’msupposed to be doing.” It reallymade a lot of sense to me. I wentback to school at night whilesubstituting as a teacher during theday. The following year I had apermanent position; I’ve been doingit ever since.

Alison: The person who reallydirected my path was [Head ofSchool] Neen Hunt. After I gradu-ated from college, I met with Neen;she was the person who pointedme toward kindergarten andworking with Lil Lulkin [longtimeCalhoun kindergarten teacher].

Did you have a favoriteteacher/administrator atCalhoun?

Bobby:Marilyn, Rosetta, Judith,George, Fred, Neen and Alec allinfluenced me deeply. They mademe believe that [teaching] was aworthy and noble occupation. FredBalin [MS math] was my firstteacher-ally. Marilyn Stewart [MScommunications] gave me TheCatcher in the Rye—the first novelI ever loved. George Glantzis [MSsocial studies and coach] sparkedmy interest in sociology andgovernment, and he was my firstbasketball coach. John Roeder [USscience] made me realize I couldthink about science and not justmemorize it. Rosetta Cohen [USEnglish, creative writing] taught meto pay attention to poetic language.Judith Brindley [US art] taught methat the art always knows morethan the artist. Neen Hunt [Head ofSchool] taught me that goodleadership is not a wielding ofpower but a wielding of reason andcompassion.Alec McDonnell[English and law]—lawyer that hewas—taught me the art ofargument. Perhaps most important,these were all kind, smart, patientpeople who made a habit ofmaking kids feel noticed.

Celebrating Calhoun’s Alum TeachersCalhoun’s alum teachers talk about why they went into teaching, who

inspired them and what makes a great teacher.

Debbie: Robert Schaecher [USsocial studies/Community ServiceDirector/US Director] and JohnBrennan [phys ed] were veryencouraging. I took an early child-hood education class with Robert;that really affirmed my interest inworking with children. I was alsointerested in physical education andbeing a swim instructor because ofJohn; we took ourWater SafetyInstructor’s certification together.Another Middle School teacher,George Glantzis, helped me get aposition teaching swimming atColumbia Prep. Then there wasRussell Woeltz, my art teacher; hewas my favorite. He was a warm,generous and kind person. I wasafraid of painting, but he was sokind and caring, he was able tomake my fears go away and helpme be a better artist, to be creative,uninhibited. He believed in mytalent even if I didn’t—and thatmade the difference. I got the artcommendation that year and stillhave it.Which is why I do what Ido; I try to bring out in kids whatthey really care about, what they’repassionate about, and try to matchit with a community service experi-ence.

Lisa: I remember really likingRobert Schaecher; he was inter-ested in the social and emotionalaspects of education and hisstudents, and that was important tome—it still is. Marvin Cohen, amath teacher, developed a foldersystem so you could work at yourown pace. He made math concreteand tangible and fun … I alsoremember that the teachers wereinterested in what I thought, notjust that I had absorbed thematerial, but that I had processed itand had come to my own conclu-sion about what I had learned. Theywere open to hearing me and myown voice. I strive to do that eachand every day in my classroom.Helping my students find somethingthey’re good at and feeling proudabout it—that helps them perse-vere when they come up againstsomething that’s really hard orchallenging.

Hannah: My participation incomedy troupe with Margie Duffield[US theater] really facilitated myability to produce and createindependently. Another memory—Iwasn’t a great math or sciencestudent, but my chemistry teacher

in tenth grade [Karen Chang] knewI liked to cook, so she explainedchemistry in culinary terms.

Amy: My communications teachers[Betsy Baldwin, Jolly Uhry] recog-nized my talent in writing and toldme to submit a poem I wrote, “TheGlint of My Pen,” to The Issue [thestudent newspaper]. It waspublished—a huge thrill! Claudia[Curfman] used to have some of uskeep a shared journal with her. Shewould read what I wrote andrespond to me with a personalnote. I have used that in some ofmy teaching (outside of Calhoun,before I was a science teacher).That level of close sharing betweenteachers and students has influ-enced my teaching.

Can you recall a particularexperience that was seminal;or an “aha” moment?

Heather: For me, a standoutmoment definitely was reading thenovel Their Eyes Were WatchingGod by Zora Neale Thurston. It wasthe first book that I really rememberwanting to just take apart … towant to read several times (whichI’ve done). It started me reading alot of things. Another author I fell in

love with was Steinbeck; I went onto read everything that I could byhim …

Didn’t you once say you werea late reader?

Heather: [Before Calhoun] I was ata really competitive private school.Grade-based, rote method; thingswere only taught one way. I was avery late reader and it just wasn’tacceptable at that school. It wasn’tuntil the tail end of the third grade(when I left), maybe even the fourthgrade, when I finally did learn toread. But when I began to read—and I see this all the time—I readeverything! And I read at the exactsame level as my peers; I didn’t juststart at a first grade reading level. Ihad been absorbing so much, thatwhen it did click for me, I had all ofit. And a passion! Suddenly, thisfreedom that I could do this. I wasso enthusiastic about reading, itwas all I wanted to do.

Bobby: I came up against a hugeblock in seventh grade. I had alwaysdone well in English and I suddenlycouldn’t read Shakespeare. I waslucky to have Alec McDonell for thisEnglish class, but I could not do it,and it was incredibly frustrating.

20 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Neen Hunt,former Head ofSchool

Judith Brindley

Alec McDonell

love with Steinbeck; I went

Marcy Mann

“Cricket”Barbara Gordon

George Glantzis

inspirational

“Cricket”

Claudia Curfman

Marilyn Stewart, who had taughtme the year before, recognized thatsomething was wrong—she mayhave talked to Alec behind thescenes—and suddenly she told me,“You’re not going to Englishanymore; when it’s time for Englishclass, I want you to sit over hereand read this book.” She handedme The Catcher in the Rye. It wasthe first real novel I ever loved, andit just confirmed all the things that Ialready loved and the things that Ithought I was good at. A couple ofyears later I came back toShakespeare and loved it, and tookall kinds of courses in Shakespearein college and grad school.

Lisa:When I arrived in sixth grade,my father was very ill.When hedied in May of that first year atCalhoun, thousands of people wereat the funeral who I didn’t know, allof them telling me how sorry theywere for me. It made me confusedand angry; they didn’t know me, sohow could they feel sorry for me?And then, as we were leaving theservice, in the very back row wereall of my teachers. They had alltaken the morning off from work tobe there. They had never met my

father; they were there for me. Itmade me realize that a teacher’scare can make a profound differ-ence in a child’s life. Those teachersmade me feel loved and not aloneat a very sad time. They did not justsee me as a job, but as a personthey cared about.

What makes a good teacher?

Alison: People who genuinely likekids are good teachers.

Heather: Patience! And lots oflaughing, too!

Stephan: Humor, patienceand years of experience—notnecessarily in that order.

Debbie: Someone who canempower a student to take leader-ship or responsibility for [his or her]own learning. Someone who caninspire a student to find joy inlearning.

Amy: Someone who is learningwith enthusiasm and excitementalong with the kids.

Lisa: Someone who sees thestudent as a whole, valid andunique being, to be discovered andencouraged, and not something tobe shaped.

Bobby: Calhoun influenced me tobelieve that at the root of anyimportant learning experience is agreat question. The great teachersI’ve had did not merely tell mewhat to know. They invited me topay attention to something, andthey put me in a position to createmeaningful questions and toexplore. Every one of my greatteachers made me think andrethink.

How did your experience as astudent at Calhoun (orelsewhere) inform the wayyou approach teaching?

Alison: Calhoun taught me thatschool can and should be a happyand positive place. From my earlyyears in Lower School until I gradu-ated, I loved coming to school. Iattribute much of that to therelationships I had with teachers. Ifelt that my teachers at Calhounknew me, understood me andwould accept and encourage me nomatter what. I know what a giftthat was for me, and I try every dayto return the favor to the kids atCalhoun today.

Debbie: The relationship betweenthe teachers and students [atCalhoun] is unique; it helped me tobe able to relate to adults. I hope Iam helping my students in thesame way, while also helping themdiscover their interests and skillsand then use them to help theircommunity. This makes what I doespecially rewarding. The intern-ships and volunteer opportunitiesthat I had when I was in highschool and college really openedthe door for me, career-wise; I don’tthink I would have gotten my firstjob at the YMCA if I hadn’t had theopportunities at Calhoun andcollege.

Stephan: Calhoun gave me what Ireally needed—a lot of nurturingand support. Fundamentally, thatgave me a platform for being a self-assured, self-actualized adult. I’mwilling to try things all over theplace and I’m willing to fail or makea fool of myself and not really worryabout it, but relish the experience,the opportunity. So I try to help mykids really explore and find whatthey’re excited about, and to “live”whatever world that is. If it’s pirateships, fantastic: know the pirate


Debbie: The relationship between

Jolly Uhry

Marie Wilson

Marilyn Stewart

John BrennanStewart

Robert Schaecher

Marvin Cohen

unforgettable

Russell Woeltz

22 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

ship; be the expert on pirate ships.If it’s the dress-up area and imagi-native play, do that, just immerseyourself in it. Really discover whatfeels good and how you want tobe within this very small commu-nity. It’s about putting the onus ofresponsibility on them [the students] … to be creative and innovative and use the resourcesaround them. I’m there as anothermeans of support.

Hannah: I’m able to put myself inthe position of the student when I’m trying to develop a project forclass. I was (and still am) a veryvisual learner and I can rememberretaining the most informationwhen the lesson was as visual andinteractive as possible. I try to findthe best ways to engage studentsand make the material directlyrelate to students.

Bobby: It takes so long and it takes so many teachers to actuallyteach you that your first idea reallyisn’t probably your best idea. And[it’s] not a negative thing, it’s not an unusual thing. But that’s actually an essential thing to know aboutyourself, and to learn over yearshow to recognize that in your ownwork and then do something aboutit. And I think Calhoun teacherswere incredible at teaching me that.

Heather: My early school experi-ences were not very positive andmy self-esteem took a huge hit. Thisschool gave me a safe and nurtur-ing place where I could tap into mycreativity and learn to take risks,

socially and academically. I began to believe that I was capable andsmart and a valuable member ofthis community. These are lessonsthat I have carried with me eversince, and I work hard to make surethat developing self-esteem is apriority for every student. I knowfrom experience that when childrenfeel good about themselves, theyreally can do anything, and thelearning just takes off from there. Ireally try to draw my clustertogether as a community, as afamily, where each person is vital.

Some people think there’s toomuch focus on self-esteem.

Heather: Can you do that? I thinkself-esteem is also about workingwith others. Nobody likes [peoplewho are] so busy talking aboutthemselves and so into themselvesthat nobody’s going to want towork with [them]. And while thatmight be the key to some kinds ofsuccess, I don’t think it’s the key toall kinds of success. To be a wholeperson, you have to be able torelate to other people and formmeaningful relationships that lastover time. In all areas, that’s impor-tant. It’s important in your personallife, it’s important in your profes-sional life. I hear about so manycompetitive schools where kids arereading by four. Well, I’m sure wecould do that. I know I could dothat. But I would have to skip somany important conversations andexperiences and caring moments,and all this empathy and compas-sion that we’re trying to create. I

mean, that’s what our world reallyneeds: a surge of empathy andcompassion. I’ll sometimes meetsomebody and think, “Theyobviously skipped the 4’s.”

Some might say the focus onself-esteem is okay for youngchildren, but by the time theyget to Upper School, we haveto get to the business ofeducation.

Bobby: I don’t see it as differentworlds when you think about thedifferent divisions; there are age-appropriate attitudes and practiceswith regard to self-esteem. In theUpper School, it’s about helpingkids realize that critique is not criti-cism. A really thoughtful critique is

actually one of the most affection-ate, important things that canhappen … and it doesn’t have tojust come from teachers. We’retrying to help students learn tocritique each other and bettercritique themselves. This is the verybasis of creative writing workshop;virtually e--very class is assigned toread and comment on a particularstudent’s writing. We begin theclass with praise and then we goon to questions, comments,suggestions …

Public school education is in crisis. What advice would you give?

Alison: The whole system is sobroken. They’re giving teachers an

alison bobby

hannahstephan

8585

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impossible task—working in asystem that doesn’t work forchildren. The first problem is theway children are taught and evalu-ated, expecting that everyone willlearn at the same rate in the sameway. That’s just wrong. If educa-tors don’t accept and address thatfact, someone fails from the get-go.The second problem is [that] it’sextremely difficult to teach withmultiple approaches when there areso many kids in a class. Publicschools need to have smallerclasses and more teachers. It’sbeen a while since I completedgraduate school, but my sense isthat teachers are taught well, butthen they enter a system wherethey can’t do what they’ve been

taught to do! That’s what makesCalhoun such a dream place toteach.

Heather: I agree—class sizes need to get smaller. There are alsoprograms like art, physical educa-tion and music that are absolutelyvital [which public schools havedropped]. In the movie Waiting forSuperman, they champion charterschools with this more militaristicstyle; I just don’t see that as beingthe answer. They’re going tobecome these rote thinkers. One ofthe more important things that weneed to develop in children is criti-cal thinking, their ability toquestion, to wonder, and toproblem-solve. I would want to see

education focus on that throughsmaller class sizes and morecreative approaches.

Lisa: If, as a teacher, you can’texpress your individuality and yourcreativity and you’re always teach-ing the curriculum that’s beenforced upon you or teaching to thetest, you don’t feel very inspired. Ihad friends in public schools whofelt that things were set up forfailure; they were frustrated all thetime, the administrators didn’t reallycare and were burned out. I would-n’t want to spend my daysurrounded by that kind ofenergy… I would be resentful. ButI’ve always had administrators whowere like, “Yeah, love that idea, godo that idea; that sounds great!”And if I needed some tweaking,they did that in a way that wasconstructive. I love working here [atCalhoun] because I get to dosomething that inspires me, and Ifeel applauded for doing whatinspires me, so it makes me want todo more.

What’s the best part aboutteaching?

Amy: Endless creativity, spontaneityand learning.

Hannah: I have yet to come towork and not be over-the-moonexcited I get to work here.

Lisa: Every year, even if you’reteaching the same age group—and I taught kindergarten for 15years—there’s a new group of kids,new personalities, a new team ofpeople. It’s always exciting, it’s very

inspiring. And I always think of newways to teach something; a newproject to get that point across. Atthis point it seems like such a longand illustrious career, but I’m still sonot done yet … I’ve got 20 moreyears in me!

Alison: Teaching is the mostrewarding job in the world. When Ithink about all of the children andfamilies whose lives I have been apart of, it gives me such pleasureand pride. Ironically, some of themost challenging students are theones I feel most proud of. As Iwatch those once "difficult” kidsgrow into responsible and success-ful big kids, adolescents and adults, I feel such a sense of accomplish-ment, both for them and myself. I've said it before but it remainstrue; I think every day how fortu-nate I am to have a job and acareer that I love. I thank Calhounfor providing that for me!

Stephan: I never thought I wouldcontinue formal education when Ifinished my undergrad degree. Thetruth is, I love learning and I’m sureCalhoun influenced and nurturedthat love. I love answeringquestions with more questions andwitnessing [students] makingconnections—seeing their personalevolution. There isn’t a day thatgoes by when I am not thinkingabout new workshops I can take ordifferent ways to learn new skills.For me, teaching is the naturalextension of my learning—sharingwhat I’ve discovered. What good isknowledge if you can’t share it?

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heather

lisa

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24 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Spanish: Gateway to the WorldSpanish language was introduced into

the theater/movement curriculum for

Calhoun’s youngest students nine

years ago. Julia Ramos (Spanish

specialist) and Megan McDonnell

(theater specialist) introduce Spanish

vocabulary through improvisation

games, dancing, music and literature.

“Research shows that moving

around while learning a language has

proven to be extremely effective,”

says Megan, who has been teaching

the curriculum since it began. For a

recent celebration of Día de los

Muertos (Day of the Dead), Julie read

the Spanish-language children’s book

Chumba la Cachumba; the children

responded to the story in improvisa-

tional, yoga-inspired movement, led

by Megan.

Kathleen points out that the intro-

duction of Spanish language is less

about fluency and more about famil-

iarity, comfort and exposure to

another culture and language. “The

fact that we incorporate Spanish from

day one,” she says, “reflects the reality

of the city in which we live.”

Holiday MagicHolidays are an obvious opportunity

for introducing world cultures and

language. And though many schools

shy away because they don’t want

their curriculum “ruled” by celebra-

tions, Kathleen says that Calhoun

takes the opposite approach and

marks all holidays, paying special

attention to the cultural celebrations

of the children in a given cluster.

Parents, grandparents and caregivers

are frequently invited to come into

the classrooms to read books or tell

stories about their holidays, and to

share special foods or crafts that are

unique to their culture. “I think it’s a

great way to construct a curriculum,

particularly when kids are young,”

says Kathleen. “We don’t want to

lecture to young children about inclu-

sion or diversity—Calhoun is about

living and doing it, because that’s the

only way it’s meaningful.”

Music: A UniversalLanguageMusic is universal … limitless … and

infectious! And it’s a wonderful way

to introduce children to the world’s

cultures.

Lower School music teacher Debbie

Morenzi recalls becoming interested

in different kinds of music as a child

growing up in Manhattan, with

friends who hailed from all over the

world. Today, she is thrilled to be

teaching world music to a new gener-

ation of little New Yorkers.

“I connect music with the outside

world,” says Debbie, who uses music

to teach geography and history. For

example, when the Chilean miners

were still trapped underground, she

taught kindergarteners a leaf song

from Chile. “I asked them, ‘Does

Little Calhoun Celebratesthe World’s Cultures“When children are young, it’s important that their lives at school and their lives at home be deeply connected,” says

Kathleen Clinesmith, LS Director. “And since Calhoun is increasingly a multicultural, multilingual population, the

teaching of world cultures and language has become more intentional over the years.” z Among the ways that

Calhoun introduces cultural diversity is through the introduction of Spanish language in theater/movement classes;

the celebration of holidays; and the music program, which has the children listening to and playing music from

around the world. “Calhoun is a school that values the rich diversity of the human experience. It is a school that

strives to build a community representative of this diversity, one that is accepting and inclusive,” says Hilary North,

Director of Diversity and Equity Issues.

1

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anyone know what is happening in

Chile?’ Music sets the stage for

deeper discussion.” Debbie also

encourages families to bring in music

from their cultures.

The music program supports the

Spanish-language theater/

movement program as well. “We

use a lot of repetition, especially

with the Spanish words,” notes

Debbie. “The students will recall

words when they’re being used in a

variety of classes.”

As the Lower School has grown

more diverse, Debbie has noticed a

change in how children react to

different languages and cultures

presented in the classroom. “There’s

less teasing over differences now.

There is no expression of ‘my way of

celebrating is better.’ The children

really step up to the plate. It’s the

timbre of the times, but the commu-

nity has also made a huge effort.”

WHO ARE WE?Calhoun’s commitment to diversity is expressed

in curriculum as well as in the rich mosaic of employees

and families who make up the school’s community.

In the 3’s through first grade alone, the percentage

of children of color has increased dramatically—

to 23.8 percent for the current year.

But this is not a complete reflection of the ethnic

diversity that we enjoy in Calhoun’s Lower School/74th.

Students at Little Calhoun speak at least 19 different

languages (in addition to English).

HOLIDAY AND CULTURAL CELEBRATIONSLower School families and caregivers are frequently

invited to come into classrooms to share their cultural

heritage, through storytelling, music, art and food. on

many occasions, those visits coincide with the holidays

celebrated by Calhoun’s youngest, including:

Argentina

Australia

Brazil

Canada

China

Costa Rica

England

France

Germany

India

Italy

Japan

Kenya

Netherlands

Nicaragua

Norway

Peru

Russia

Scotland

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Syria

Turkey

united States

All Saints’ Day(Greece)

Black HistoryMonth

Chanukah

Christmas

Cinco de Mayo

Diwali

Grandparents’Day

Hispanic HeritageMonth

Halloween

Lunar New Year

Kwanzaa

Mahatma Gandhi’sBirthday

Martin LutherKing, Jr.’s Birthday

New Year’s Day

Saint Patrick’s Day

Thanksgiving

valentine’s Day

1. THANKSGIvING

Many clusters celebrated

Thanksgiving this year by

making a feast, with

students pitching in and

helping prepare dishes

like cranberry sauce and

cornbread.

2. WoRLD MuSIC

Music teacher Debbie

Morenzi taught kinder-

garten students a

Chanukah song in Ladino,

an ancient Sephardic

language that is a combi-

nation of Hebrew,

Spanish and Arabic. The

day’s lesson ended with

learning American Sign

Language to the Spanish

and English song “We

Want Peace.”

3. LuNAR NEW YEAR

Celebrating the Lunar

New Year is a beloved

tradition at Calhoun,

with a yearly visit by

dancers from the Wan

Chi Ming Hung Gar

Institute, performing the

traditional lion’s dance.

4. DIWALI

For the traditional Diwali

Festival of Lights,

students made diya

lamps, ate special foods,

tried on saris, got henna

tattoos, colored Diwali

designs and sang and

danced to Indian music.

5. GANDHI’S BIRTHDAY

Some clusters at Little

Calhoun celebrated

Mahatma Gandhi’s birth-

day, which is a national

holiday in India. Notes

Eugenia Nascimento,

kindergarten teacher,

“We started the year

weaving and talked

about how Gandhi

thought it was important

to weave a little every

day. Gandhi believed that

hand-spinning, combined

with weaving on hand

looms, was a good way

for the people of India to

become independent and

self-reliant.”

6. DAY oF THE DEAD

The Lower School often

celebrates Mexico’s Día

de Los Muertos. Spanish

teacher Julia Ramos read

from Chumba la

Cachumba, while the

children responded to

the book in theater/

movement activities led

by LS teacher Megan

McDonnell.

7. MARTIN LuTHER

KING, JR., DAY

Ngina Johnson, kinder-

garten teacher, read to

students last year about

the life and work of

Martin Luth er King, Jr. Art

projects often center

around “I Have a

Dream” quilts.

3

4

5

6

7

Some of the birth countries of LS/74th parents:

Some of the languages spoken at home by Calhoun families include:

Arabic

Chinese

Dutch

French

German

Gujarati

Hebrew

Hindi

Italian

Japanese

Swahili

Korean

Norwegian

Polish

Portuguese

Russian

Spanish

Tagalog

Turkish

Tenth graders are required to take a chemistry class

for three out of the five mods.* But Kim’s goal—to

make chemistry accessible to everyone—has been

made immeasurably easier by the new schedule,

which allows tenth graders to choose from a selec-

tion of topical chemistry classes.

The first mod of the year, Introduction to

Chemistry, is a required course. But after learning

the basics, students are invited to choose two of

three chemistry electives they would like to continue

with for the subsequent mods: Acids, Bases and

Reactions; Elective Heat and Gases; or Organic and

Nuclear Chemistry.

“I like giving the students a choice so they can

come at chemistry from a variety of angles. It makes

the class more approachable,” notes Kim. “If a

student likes to draw, s/he might be interested in

the Organic and Nuclear class, because organic

chemistry requires drawing structures and visualizing

reactions and the mechanisms that occur during a

reaction. If a student is interested in math and

enjoys solving problems, s/he may enjoy the Heats

and Gases class, because it deals a lot with chemical

equations and formulas. For example, we discuss

why a helium-filled balloon gets smaller when you

leave a warm store in cold weather. We do a lot of

labs that prove the mathematical formulas and

equations discussed in the class.”

The new mod schedule’s extended class time has

also been beneficial for conducting labs. Last year,

under the former schedule, Kim saw each section of

sophomores four days a week—three times for 45

minutes and one time for 90 minutes. This year, Kim

teaches each section five days out of the six-day

cycle—four times for 65 minutes and one time for

140 minutes. “The 65-minute periods allow me to

do a lab even when there isn’t a double period.

And now, we can talk about labs the same day that

we do them,” notes Kim. “Students can digest the

information while it’s still fresh.” Kim points out

that the new format also gives her more one-on-one

time with students who might be struggling.

Junior Allie Sommer, who is taking the

Advanced Chemistry class, believes the new schedule

is hugely beneficial to science classes. “Chemistry is

one of the best subjects for the mod system. When

we had to do experiments under the old schedule,

we were rushed. Now, you can go more deeply into

the material and repeat experiments or review more

examples if you don’t understand.” Allie notes that

there can be a lot of downtime in labs—for

example, waiting for a particular chemical to heat

up. “During those ten minutes, you can work on

your calculations or ask Kim questions about

another homework assignment. Chemistry class is

now a very calm environment.”

Even though the new schedule has its perks, it is

apparent that Kim’s warm teaching style is the

biggest asset to the class, and her upbeat approach

to chemistry has been wildly successful: this year’s

Advanced Chemistry class ballooned to 16

students—all former chemistry students of Kim’s.

26 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

C–4

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T+4

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2-8-18-14-143

R+185.4678

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Y+388.9059

2-8-18-9-239

G+369.72

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2-8-18-14-143

By Alison Bennett

“Chemistry has a bad rap,” says Kim Switaj, US chemistry teacher. “When I tell people I’m a chemistry teacher, they immediately tellme a horror story from high school. I want my students to havea positive experience.”


In previous years, enrollment had topped at six or

seven. “I like the environment to be laid back, but

also one where the students know when it is impor-

tant to be serious—like during a lab,” says Kim.

“Having taught in a variety of different learning

environments, some more structured than others, I

feel like my classroom style is a blend of all of those

schools of thought. I am always working toward

finding that balance between serious and fun.”

When Kim was at the College of Charleston,

where she majored in biology and minored in

chemistry, she was drawn to professors who “were a

little more human; not the stereotypical ‘chemistry

guy.’” But she claims the main

inspiration for her person-

able teaching style is her

mother, who is a high

school math teacher at Hoboken High School.

“She’s an amazing teacher; I always enjoyed being

a guest in her classroom. And when I first started

teaching, I tried to model the environment on her

classroom.”

*What is a mod?

Rather than two semesters, Calhoun’s school year is organized into

five mods (modules) that are 30–34 days long. during each module,

students study between three and five subjects. some courses

continue into two or three consecutive modules; others are designed

for only one.

a modular calendar allows students to explore subjects in greater

depth and facilitates interdisciplinary investigations. this structure,

which allows for more sustained time devoted to a class, also

enhances the one-on-one relationships between students and teach-

ers that support Calhoun's personalized approach to education.

(Left) Francesco Granato ’13

conducts an experiment

for his Intro to Chemistry

class.

(Above) Chemistry

teacher Kim Switaj

(right) gives pointers to

Advanced Chemistry lab

partners Allie Sommer ‘12

and Chris Kelly ‘11. To

determine the empirical

formula of silver oxide,

the students take a

quantity of silver and

heat it, allowing oxygen

to escape. When only

the silver remains, they

determine the empirical

formula of the compound.

28 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

An in-class woodworking project with sixth graders

has been transformed from an already rich lesson in

mathematical calculations, artistic vision and crafts-

manship into a lesson about economics, social

awareness and activism.

The Chairthewealth Project, conceived by

woodshop teacher David Hyman with the help of

Middle School technology teacher Andres Richner,

has become, in the last two years, an enthusiastically

supported program whereby students auction their

handmade Adirondack chairs online and pass the

proceeds on to Kiva.org—

a micro-financing program that makes small loans to

people around the world.

Each year sixth grade students build child-size

Adirondack-style chairs in shop class, learning the

history of the Adirondack style and painting the

chairs in their art classes. Then the chairs need to

find a home.

At first the chairs were donated to the waiting

room of a children’s hospital or given to faculty

members when they welcomed new members to

their families. But that all changed two years ago,

when David introduced Kiva.org to the students.

With the help of Andres, the students began build-

ing a website for their new project, so they could

auction the chairs to Calhoun families to raise

money. All of the proceeds would then be passed

along to the Middle School’s new Kiva Club.

Chairthewealth raised $400 in its first year. The

students began loaning the money, in $25 incre-

ments, to entrepreneurs around the world, funding

projects they thought had the greatest need and

potential. One loan went to help 15 villagers in the

Cambodian village of Lech Pram establish a grocery

store; another went to a widowed mother of five,

along with 14 others,

mostly women, who

started a fish-selling

business in Goma, the

Democratic Republic of

the Congo.

As the loans the Kiva

Club made were paid

back, the students were

able to reinvest the

money and keep the process going. So, after the

initial $400, the Middle School club was able to

make 30 loans last year, totaling $750.

Seventh grade club member Christina Brinzac,

who is clearly thrilled to be involved, says, “It’s a

great way to help other people, because you can see

that you are helping them, and when they pay you

back, you can reinvest in more people.”

This year, club members raised another $400 by

selling Adirondack chairs at the Calhoun Holiday Arts

& Crafts Fair. And the Middle School Student

Government voted to make its own contribution to

the club of $150, from the proceeds of their fall

dance. Now, with the help of Andres, the Kiva Club

is redesigning its Chairthewealth website in prepara-

tion for the newest crop of sixth-grade Adirondack

chairs—this time opening up the sale to the wider

community.

David and Andres hope the club helps foster a

lifelong sense of service in their students. Observes

David, “Kiva Club is a wonderful opportunity for

students to learn about the developing world and to

support those projects that really resonate with

them, while furthering the cause of financial

empowerment to the world’s poor.”

(Top) sixth graders build mini–adirondack

chairs in woodshop. (Below) seventh grader

Clark Vaccaro worked the Kiva Club table at

the Holiday arts & Crafts Fair in December,

selling mini–adirondack chairs for the

Chairthewealth project.

From theAdirondacks to Africa andAsiaWoodshop Project Launches Middle Schoolers

into Social Activism Through Micro-Lending


By David Smith, Director ofDevelopment and Alumnae/i

Relations, as told to BethKrieger, CommunicationsDirector

shortly after the Middle school

Government hosted a dance and

party fundraiser for PlayPumps

International, I was invited by

their faculty advisors, Josephine

salvador and Marcos sanchez, to

speak to the group about philan-

thropy. as a former Middle

school social studies teacher, I

knew students at this age are at

the point that they can recognize

and identify some of the wrongs

in the world, some of the things

that need to be fixed, and so

they had already been thinking

about these things. They were

ready for the philanthropy

conversation.

The students knew that most

of the proceeds from their

fundraiser would go to

PlayPumps International, but they

wanted to determine what to do

with the remainder of funds. so I

talked to them a bit about

philanthropy in general and the

ways to evaluate a nonprofit

organization. a good example

was the Kiva Club: We talked

about how to look at projects

that had the sustainability factor,

projects that did not need future

loans and that might best benefit

from their community loan.

I told them how I prioritize

organizations for my personal

philanthropy: I try to divide a

budget that I create between

different sectors that are impor-

tant to me, to provide a frame-

work that helps me to think

about priorities. Most people

have a philanthropic priority

somewhere…but the point is to

really take the time to look at

that landscape and decide which

organizations are priorities for

you and what type of budget you

will devote to it.

It was a very thoughtful

conversation; the students asked

a lot of good questions about

giving to nonprofits and where

they could have the biggest

impact. We talked about organi-

zations that fight poverty in New

york City; I talked about women’s

philanthropy, which is important

to me, because I believe that

giving to women’s organizations

results in giving to families and

really helps break the cycle of

poverty. We talked about water,

which is obviously important to

them this year, with the Go Blue!

theme. and we talked a little

about international philanthropy,

and the role of NGOs and organi-

zations like Water.org. It was

really a terrific opportunity to

hear what the kids had to say. a

lot of their questions were about

return on investment, which is a

big topic of discussion in the

nonprofit world. We talked

about Malaria No More, an

organization that takes small

donations for a specific purpose

($10 buys a mosquito net), and

about the micro-lending

movement, which is how we got

into the conversation about Kiva.

It seemed to fit with their basic

approach and what they were

looking for.

Remarkably, the students

asked about some ways to give

back to Calhoun—they brought it

up themselves! Marcos and

Josephine chimed in and said,

“Well, the annual Fund is one

way…”

By the end of the meeting,

the students had decided how

much they needed to save for

future Middle school events and

activities, and how much to

commit to philanthropy. They

actually used the time to build

consensus in a conversation

about each organization.

ultimately, they chose, as

planned, to give the largest

portion to PlayPumps

International, and then decided

on smaller gifts to the Hudson

Riverkeeper (also related to the

yearly theme), the Kiva Club, and

the school’s annual Fund.

I was thrilled to help encour-

age and support the philan-

thropic efforts of our Middle

school students.

Postscript: David personallymatched the Middle SchoolGovernment’s gift to theAnnual Fund, thereby doubling

its contribution.

Pie chart shows howstudents in Middleschool studentGovernment decided todistribute the fundsraised at a recentdance and party forfifth-through-eighthgraders.

� PlayPumps Intl.� MS Gov’t Account� KIVA� Hudson Riverkeeper� Calhoun Annual Fund

$150

$135$100

$400

$400

Kiva.org empowers individualsto lend to entrepreneurs acrossthe globe. By combining micro-finance with the Internet, Kivais creating a global communityof people connected throughlending.

PlayPumps International is anonprofit organization focusedon fundraising, advocacy, andeducation about water povertyin Africa. The PlayPump watersystem provides a fun andsustainable solution to theglobal water crisis in Africa.www.waterforpeople.org

Hudson Riverkeeper:Riverkeeper’s mission is toprotect the ecological integrityof the Hudson River and itstributaries, and to safeguard thedrinking water supply of ninemillion New Yorkers. www.riverkeeper.org

TALKING TO MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ABOUT PHILANTHROPY

David smith, Development Director

(second from left), meets with Kiva

Club members and Middle school

government reps about the value of

philanthropy and how to maximize

their charitable giving.

30 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

REUNIONJUNE 2 & 3

2011JuNE 2: aLuMNaE LuNCHEON

For all graduates through 1971.Special welcome for

classes ending in “1” and “6.”

Location: Calhoun’s Robert L. Beir

Lower School, 74th Street.

JuNE 3: REuNION EVENING

For all alumnae/i. Special welcome for

classes ending in “1” and “6.”

Location: Rooftop, 81st Street.

BE a CLass aGENT!� Help plan your Reunion

� Provide updates on classmates

� Share ideas for the Cougar Circle

� Help with alumnae/i giving goals

To volunteer, contact

Bart Hale, Alumnae/i Relations Coordinator,

[email protected], 646-666-6450


IMNAEALU /Calhoun Alums–United with a Common DNA

Bart Hale ’00, Alumnae/i Relations Coordinator

I nearly jumped out of my seat as Robin Otton, Director of

Admissions/74th, began reviewing some of the various projects

that Lower School students undertake at Calhoun—“They still

make pocket people!? I did that with my art teacher 20 years

ago…and have mine at home!” I was in a conference room full of

anxious prospective parents who were learning about the school,

but my excitement overtook me when I heard that news. It’s been

a running theme, though, in the three months since I returned to

Calhoun for my new role as Alumnae/i Relations Coordinator.

With each corner I turn, I discover one more great tradition that still

exists at an alma mater I love so much. I learn that Shelley

Greenberg continues her intensive term-paper project in eighth

grade, which most of us consider the very foundation of our writing

skills. I see that John Roeder’s Active Physics class still conducts

many of the same experiments. I’m reminded of the Upper School

ski trip and school-wide events like Harvest Festival and Egg Drop

that are going strong. I witness the same passion in Cougar athlet-

ics and talented performances onstage. Sure, plenty has changed in

the ten quick years since I graduated—all of it impressive and for

the better. But as an alum and proud lifer of the school, I take

tremendous comfort in witnessing the continuity of tradition that is

so alive and well here.

The deeper-rooted Calhoun traditions, of course, are not visible

in projects or events, but they are embodied by Calhoun’s central

mission and its core educational values. Students benefit from

small class sizes, engaging with their teachers, sharing their voices

and articulating ideas; individuals who thrive as scholars, athletes,

musicians and thespians—all in one; and young adults come

together as active, diverse contributors to a vibrant community.

This is the Calhoun DNA that helped shape us all. It’s in our hearts,

and in a very powerful way, it links generations of graduates

together.

You could see those connections so strongly at our Alumni Pub

Night in November, which drew a record turnout, with graduates

ranging from 1980 to 2007. Did we all know one another? Of

course not. Did we all have John Roeder? Now that’s more likely.

But either way, we all shared in an enriching community that

shaped our values and our voices. The very spirit that is Calhoun

was alive and well in that room, spanning decades with collegial

exuberance.

I’d urge you to reach out to me with your ideas on how we can

keep this momentum going. In addition to the growing success of

alumnae/i events, you’ll see two new initiatives below geared

specifically with alums in mind as we think about giving back.

Thanks for your enthusiasm for Calhoun and for helping me grow

a vibrant alumnae/i presence.

THE COUGAR CIRCLECALHOUN’S NEW ALUMNAE/I GIVING SOCIETY

The Cougar Circle recognizes consistent participation of alumnae/i who invest in the Calhoun Annual Fund for three or

more consecutive school years, at any giving level.For this inaugural year, all alums who support the

Annual Fund by June 30, 2011, will automatically be recognizedin the Circle. See www.calhoun.org/cougarcircle

for benefits and more information.

TEACHER TRIBUTESYou can now make your Annual Fund

gift in honor or memory of a Calhoun teacher or staff member who has had a big impact on your

experience. Simply note the name(s) with your gift and s/he will be notified of your tribute.

Go online: www.calhoun.org/onlinegiving.

Alumnae/iClassNotes

32 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

BIRTHSTo Peter Harris ’93 and hiswife, Breda Carroll, a daughter,Scarlett Carroll

To stefanie Dreiblatt Wotton ’95 and Rob Wotton, a son, Nathaniel Cole

MARRIAGESanne L. Waterman ’87 to Darin Bassin

adrienne Glasser ’96 to Win Rosenfeld [’96]

steve Feldman ’00 to Ariella Shkolnik

James Granger ’00 to Janelle Salamon

anneMarie Newman ’00 to Aaron Jeffries

Hillary Gluck ’02 to Andrew Wasicek

IN MEMORIAMRuth yachnin sherwood ‘35

sally Hendricks Weber ’42

adrienne Meyers Owen ’52

Dorien Ross ’65

alice adler Engle ’66 (in 2005)

Judith Brindley (us art teacher, 1981–1997)

KEy

[ ] Graduation years inbrackets indicate that thealumna/us attended, butdid not graduate fromCalhoun.

1940sMary-Ellen Greenberger

siegel ’49 authored abooklet this past year, incollaboration with FrancoM. Muggia, M.D., titledBreast Cancer Today: AGuide for Breast Patientsand Those Who CareAbout Them. The 65-pagebooklet was published bythe Chemotherapy Founda-tion. Complimentary copiescan be obtained throughthe foundation.

1950ssuzanne Rosenhirsch

Oppenheimer ’52 emergedvictorious in a tightlycontested race to maintainher New York State Senateseat. The Democrat fromMamaroneck representsthe 37th District (Westches-ter County) and has servedas a state senator since1985. Her opponent, BobCohen, finally conceded

the race on December 7,when he was trailing byabout 400 votes withapproximately 1,000absentee ballots still to becounted. SenatorOppenheimer was recentlynamed 2010 Legislator ofthe Year by the AmericanInstitute of Architects,New York State, for hersponsorship of the SmartGrowth Initiative, a newlaw that will fundamen-tally change the way stateagencies fund public infra-structure projects, byrequiring the use of “smartgrowth principles” tocombat sprawl andpromote environmentallysound development.

1960sEllen Judson ’66 iscurrently living in thebeautiful Spanish colonialtown of San Miguel deAllende in Mexico, whereshe has been teachingEnglish. She has alsobeen painting for morethan a decade, noting,“San Miguel is an artist'sparadise!”

1. adrienne Glasser ’96 wed Win

Rosenfeld [‘96] last summer.

2. Painting of Tarrytown at Night by

Ronnie Levine ’66

3. stefanie Dreiblatt Wotton ’95 with

husband, Rob, and baby boy,

Nathaniel Cole

4. Congresswoman allyson young

schwartz ’66 won re-election bid!

1

2

3 4

Ronnie Levine ’66, an artistand author, lives inTarrytown, NY, where sheruns her own business, theRivertown Painter’sStudio. She paints outdoorscenes as well as portraits,and brings students intothe studio several timeseach week. Ronnie is alsofinishing up a mysterynovel that features an artistprotagonist, and she isregularly contributingarticles to the Tarrytown–Sleepy Hollow Patch andother local newspapers. “Ienjoy my work verymuch,” says Ronnie, whoadds that Calhoun played asignificant role in thedevelopment of her skills.“I remember Mr. Woeltz,loading more of us thananyone would guess possi-ble into his car for tripsacross the park to theMetropolitan Museum—which I loved. And whenI started writing my book,I would frequentlyimagine myself back inMiss Williams’ classroomthe day she gave me agreat review on my termpaper about women’s rolesin the Civil War. Shetaught me a way toapproach writing about acomplex subject by gather-ing notes on cards,shuffling and reshuffling,and being patient until itall pulls together into anarrative with aviewpoint. Her words areinfluencing and encourag-ing me to this day.”

allyson young schwartz ’66,Democratic congress-woman from Pennsylvania’s13th District (which coversthe Philadelphia suburbs)won her bid in Novemberfor a fourth term to theHouse of Representatives.

Congresswoman Schwartzcurrently serves on theBudget and Ways andMeans committees. Aspart of her legislativeinitiatives, she has intro-duced the Green Jobs Act,Home Health Care

Planning Improvement Actand Support WorkingParents Act as ways tohelp stimulate theeconomy and return moreAmericans to work.


Alumnae/iClassNotes

PROFILEA 57-Year Pen-Pal Connection

by SARA JANE GOLDSTEIN DRESCHER ‘57

Sometime in September 1954, a representative from the United Nations came tospeak at Calhoun. I was in tenth grade, but I remember it as if it were yesterday.At the end of her talk she invited us to come to the stage, where she had a bigbowl filled with postcards written from children who lived all over the world. Iremember walking up, picking a card and returning to my seat.

I wrote my first letter to Toshio Ida shortly thereafter, and we correspondedfor the next 57 years, sharing news of our lives.

Then, as I was approaching my BIG 70th birthday, my husband asked mewhat I would like to do. After thinking about it I decided that, since we are wellenough, I would like to take a trip to Japan. I wrote to Toshio and asked if therewas any way we could meet in Tokyo. He responded with a package of tourbrochures and literature about Japan. Eventually we exchanged emailaddresses.

On May 15, 2010, we finally met for the first time. It was an experience Iwill never forget. Toshio and his wife, Katsuko, came to our hotel and weexchanged pictures and gifts. Although Toshio’s English isnot perfect, we were able to communicate. He evenbrought his Hello Kitty Japanese-English dictionary withhim in case we needed it.

Toshio showed me the first letter he ever received fromme, written September 24, 1954. It was amazing to mehow I thought of myself so long ago. He also had savedmany of the pictures I had sent him, including pictures ofmy Sweet Sixteen party.

Our evening together was one I will never forget.Although we live on opposite sides of the world, our livesare so similar. One of the gifts I presented to him was acrystal globe sitting on top of an onyx base. On the base Ihad engraved, One World, Two Friends. Sara Jane andToshio. I can’t thank Calhoun enough for providing mewith the opportunity to have had this experience.

sara Jane with her pen

pal, Toshio Ida, and his

wife, Katsuko, met in

Japan after a 57-year

correspondence that

began in her sophomore

year at Calhoun.

Alumnae/iClassNotes

34 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Calhoun was a different place in the 1960s, when Barbara Williams Fullard—a young African-American from a publicschool in the Bronx—entered the all-girl private school on West 92nd Street.

“For me and for many other women, the sixties was a pivotal time in our formative years and in the history of the UnitedStates,” says Barbara, remembering those early years of the civil rights movement and the emergence of Dr. Martin LutherKing, Jr. Even at the young age of 12, she felt “the weight of representing not only my family, but the entire African-American race. I wanted to be worthy of the privilege of being equal.” But Barbara says her Calhoun experience, describedin a touching memoir about her years as a student, and later, as a teacher, helped her in immeasurable ways: “Calhoun gaveme a sense of power by enriching my love of the spoken and written word. It afforded me the ability to tackle interracialbigotry and prejudice…Calhoun made me a critical thinker. It taught me life lessons that thickened my skin and helped meto appreciate my strengths and uniqueness. It gave me the baton to lead my own parade.”

And “lead her own parade” is just what Barbara did. After graduating from Howard University in 1970 with a BA inEnglish, Barbara became, at the age of 22, a full-fledged English teacher at John Hayden Johnson Junior High School, anurban public school in Washington, DC. She stayed for 32 years, teaching classes in English grammar and composition,dramatics, public speaking, creative writing, desktop publishing, word processing and jazz appreciation. In 1980, shereceived an MA in education from Trinity Washington University. During the latter part of her tenure at John HaydenJohnson—as head of the English Department, editor of and advisor for the school newspaper, and student-governmentinstructor—she received an award for regional Teacher of the Year. She became a mentor to teachers from around the city,who would come to her classes to watch her in action.

Barbara says her passion for teaching, and the techniques she used to “make learning fun,” came from the teachers she hadhad at Calhoun in the sixties. She recalls how Mme. Pitzele immersed her students in the French language. “If we couldn’tgo to Paris, she would bring Paris to us,” says Barbara, who remembers seeing her first foreign film with subtitles—TheUmbrellas of Cherbourg—enjoying a meal of coq au vin at an “authentic” French restaurant, and then returning to school towrite about the experience.

She ventured to do the same with her students. Choosing a theme such as the Harlem Renaissance, she would engage herstudents in conversations about jazz, poetry and the artists of that era so they would have a basis for cross-curricular researchpapers that would interweave history, literature and the arts. Her students read about Langston Hughes and his “dreamdeferred,” relating that poem to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Barbara would follow the reading of the play witha screening of the film, and then, in honor of Black History Month, her students would perform the entire play for parents andinvited guests. “The hands-on approach to thematic teaching was what I learned from my language, history and Englishteachers at Calhoun,” says Barbara, who insists that it was because of her interdisciplinary teaching approach that she laterbecame departmental chair and the unofficial ninth grade teacher—a highly coveted position.

In writing about her teaching career, Barbara bemoans the plight of education today, and calls for renewed respect for thededicated teachers—particularly in cities like Washington, DC—who are being maligned by legislators, business leaders andthe media on a daily basis: “Contrary to popular belief, not everyone can be a teacher. It’s a talent for an educator to impart

BARBARA WILLIAMS FULLARD ‘66Coming Full Circle: From Inspired Student to Inspiring Teacher

PROFILE

1980sCaroline Cory ’82 writes,“I’ve recently beenpromoted to HR coordina-tor at the research arm ofCalifornia Pacific MedicalCenter in San Francisco.

I specialize in handlingvisas for foreign scholars.My son, Ezra, has juststarted middle school(eek!), at Live Oak School,which is not unlikeCalhoun in its philosophy

of educating the wholechild and expanding inter-personal relationshipsamong children. We’re allvery happy to be there.I’ve taken up whale boatrowing on the bay, which

is tons of fun, and I still doquilting. I would love tocatch up with Calhouniesin the SF Bay Area.”

anne Waterman ’87 andDarin Bassin were marriedlast August in New York atthe Four Seasons restau-


Alumnae/iClassNotes

1990sPeter Harris ’93 and hiswife, Breda Carroll,welcomed their first child,Scarlett Carroll Harris, onOctober 5, 2010. Theycurrently live in LosAngeles, where Breda is adoctor at UCLA and Petecontinues to work for thePenguin Group as a direc-tor. Before joiningPenguin, Pete worked for afilm company thatproduced such movies asDear John and Twilight.

Chris Foster ’95 joined theNational Hockey League’scorporate offices in 2009,where he is currently asales project manager forthe NHL.com experienceand design team.

stefanie Dreiblatt Wotton

’95 and her husband, Rob,welcomed their first child,Nathaniel Cole (Nate), onOctober 14. Stefanie tookoff ten weeks beforereturning to work at theRobert Allen Group, whereshe is the senior managerof brand management.

Rob is a senior financialanalyst at CB Richard Ellis.

shaniquoa Elrington ’96

returned to Calhoun thispast fall to work as anadmissions coordinator.Several years ago,Shaniquoa embarkedupon her career ineducation, starting as aNew York City TeachingFellow public schoolteacher and then as ahiring manager andcurriculum developer ina school in Seoul, SouthKorea. She’s currentlycompleting her secondmaster’s degree ineducation.

adrienne Glasser ’96, apsychotherapist and certi-fied dance movementtherapist in private practiceon the Upper West Side,married fellow CalhounderWin Rosenfeld [’96] lastsummer. Win works as amultimedia producer andmovie critic. Among theirCalhoun classmates at the wedding were JustinBosch ’00, Chris Foster ’95,

Geoff Foster ’96 and adamGerson ’97.

1. (From left) us math teacher Erika Zamfiresku, angie soto ’97 and

shaniquoa Elrington ’96

2. Richard Lin ’97 and Brian Peters ’97 returned to Calhoun as JV Boys’

Basketball coaches.

(Far left) a fuzzy, but valued

photo of Barbara (top left)

with Hillary Clinton, when

the first lady was invited

to Barbara’s school for

a poetry slam.

(Left) Barbara Williams

Fullard ’66 in her high

school graduation

photo.

more than just book knowledge. The teacher is the guide tosome of the mysteries of human nature. He is the facilitator bywhich the student develops the means to think. That is a power-ful weapon against ignorance, prejudice, hopelessness anddespair. If one can think critically, one can create in a positiveway…and the world would become a better place.”

Now retired, Barbara says she is simply enjoying herfamily—her son and ten-year-old grandson, both named Julien;the luxury of retirement and listening to jazz. Several of herpoems have been published, including those included in ananthology called Epiphanies and Other Absurdities, a book ofwhich she was a co-editor. But she has also found a newpastime—reconnecting to Calhoun friends via Facebook. “Ihave come full circle, finding many of my Calhoun class-mates—all of whom have succeeded in careers and in theirlives. From attorneys, organizers, entrepreneurs and high-profile politicians to artists and musical comedy actresses,philanthropists and educators like me, I am proud to be a part ofthe Calhoun Sisterhood from the Sixties,” says Barbara.�

Reconnecting with Calhoun and classmates was the inspira-tion that drove Barbara to write her memoir about her highschool years and long career as a teacher. Dedicated to thosefriends and teachers from Calhoun who “touched my heart,” themanuscript now resides in Calhoun’s Neen Hunt Library, and onthe school’s website at www.calhoun.org/fullard.

rant. Anne is the seniorvice president overseeingpublic relations, advertis-ing and creative services atMichael Kors, the fashionand luxury goods company

in New York. Her husbandis a vice president and asenior counsel for mergersand acquisitions at CBS inNew York.

Alumnae/iClassNotes

36 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Damaso Reyes ’96, an avidphotojournalist, had asolo show of his work inVienna that wassponsored by theAmerican embassy andgrew out of the work hedid as a Fulbright scholarin 2008. All the imagesare of Vienna, but takenfrom an outsider’sperspective. For the lastseveral months, Damasohas been exploringAustria’s asylumsystem—thanks to a grantfrom the Ford Founda-tion. Watch an interviewwith Damaso at theopening of his exhibit,Vienna from the Shadows:http://tinyurl.com/346efnk.

Brian Peters ’97 is the newcoach for the Boys’ JVBasketball Team—aposition he found postedon the school’s LinkedInpage. Brian is alsoworking to bring to NewYork his Hip Hop SodaShop, a hip-hop-themeddiner that he started up inTampa.

Richard Lin ’97 is workingalongside Brian Peters ’97as the new assistant coachfor the Boys’ JV Basket-ball team. Richard isenjoying fatherhood as astay-at-home dad with histhree-year-old daughter,Zoe. Richard’s wife, Julie,is a preschool teacher.

alex Dworkowitz ’97 iscurrently finishing histhird year of law school at the University of

PROFILE Musings of a Melancholy Alumna

by GAY FRIEDLAND NICHOLSON ‘69

Standing in front of the grand old building on 92nd Street in September [2010], withmy husband, Rob, I was wistful. Perhaps I never fully appreciated the benefits of myCalhoun years whilst I was a student.

Sure, there were moments when I helped my own kids with their Frenchhomework, remembering Mlle. Troubetskoy’s adamant whistling of the word huit,making certain we didn’t leave the room until we could say it as well as she did. Iremembered a trip to Stratford, CT, and dozing during Julius Caesar but beingcompletely obsessed by Romeo and Juliet.

And gym! My two left feet were useless during volleyball (I was given the task ofphotographing matches just to keep me occupied and off the team...but maybe mypoor hand-eye coordination was due to my bloomers riding up or falling down...).However, when the teacher taught us belly dancing, I was rapt!

Art classes with Mr. Woeltz were brilliant. I’d zoom across the street and paintand draw, and was enthralled by his knowledgeof art history. The Met became my second home.I’d walk up the steps as I unrolled my skirt

(having rolled it up scandalously, as soon as I lefthome, to mid-thigh...It was the ’60’s!) MissCosmey would look at my face and then my skirtand back to my face and shake her head.

Crullers in the cafeteria...Miss Hall’s philoso-phy lessons...learning to fold The New YorkTimes properly so you could read it withoutpoking out the eye of the person sitting next toyou. Learning to question, investigate, be curiousand, hopefully, form complete sentences. Funnythe things you remember...I was pretty lucky. And now, well, I’m appre-ciative.I’ve lived in Australia longer than I lived in theUnited States. We have two gorgeous kids:Molly, 29, who is a psychologist, and Tim, 26,

who has spent the last three years working for the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.Me? Well, I’m happy! I’ve been teaching drama for more than 25 years and love mylife!

Clearly I appreciate the gift I was given. So, now that I am perilously close to 60,you can forgive an “old lady” for being somewhat mawkish...and indulge a bit ofmelancholy. I think Miss P and Miss C would be proud and maybe somewhatrelieved that I had adopted their ethos of integrity, creativity and love of learning.Reconnect with Gay at [email protected].


Alumnae/iClassNotes

Pennsylvania. Prior tothat, he worked as a senioranalyst in the GovernmentAccountability Office.Alex also holds a master’sin public health policyfrom the HarvardUniversity KennedySchool of Government.

adam Gerson ’97 returnedto Calhoun this past fall toenjoy one of the school’sPerforming Arts Seriesevents—a presentation byaward-winning journalistAmy Goodman, host ofDemocracy Now! Adam isassistant director oftechnology at ColumbiaPrep, where he’s workedfor the last nine years.

angie soto ‘97 stopped byCalhoun this past fall tomeet up with admissionscoordinator shaniquoa

Elrington ‘96 and watch theMiddle School Girls’Volleyball Team face offagainst UNIS in thechampionship finals. It wasAngie’s first glimpse ofCalhoun’s new gym,which, she couldn’t helpbut notice, is lined with thechampionship bannersfrom her own days onthe Girls’ VarsityVolleyball Team.Angie has been teachingelementary school in NewYork for the last ten years;she is currently in her thirdyear at PS 46, where sheteaches fifth grade.

Nicole Wilson ’99 had anexhibit of her paintings lastsummer at the 21 Ludlowgallery’s Paintings show inSoho. In attendance wereRebecca stein ‘00 and BillyZifchak ‘99. One ofNicole’s paintings was alsofeatured on the cover of

1 2

43

4Four Ways to stay in Touch!

1. CaLHOuN’s aLuMNaE/I COMMuNITy

Log in to the alumnae/i portal on

the school’s website.

Find photos, reunion and event

information, emails for classmates

and former faculty, past issues of

The Chronicle and late-breaking news!

www.calhoun.org/alum

2. FaCEBOOK

Be a fan!

Calhoun alum Facebook page at

www.facebook.com/calhounalums

3. LINKEDIN

Build your Calhoun network!

http://bit.ly/calhounlinkedin

4. TWITTER

Follow us at

www.twitter.com/calhounschool

1. Casey shane ’06 signed on as Boys’ Varsity Basketball

assistant coach.

2. sam schreck ’07 (left) poses with secretary of Defense

Robert Gates and another lucky intern.

3. sabrina spiegel ’06, coach of the Girls’ JV Volleyball

Team and newly hired school nurse and health

educator, with new assistant volleyball coach

Peter Zurkuhlen ’06.

4. samara savino '06 is substitute teaching at Little

Calhoun while applying to law school.

Alumnae/iClassNotes

38 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

PROFILE ALEXI SAVOV ‘01

Riding on the New Wave of EconomistsAlexi Savov ’01, who came to Calhoun as a junior from Bulgaria, has finally returned to Manhattan, after years in theMidwest, to assume a position as an assistant professor in New York University’s business school. Calhoun is thrilled toreconnect with this young economist and find out what he has been doing and what he forecasts for the future!

Tell us about your academic journey since you left Calhoun. From Calhoun I went to Washington University in St. Louis,which was a great experience for me. Ted McDonald was our college placement advisor, and his guidance was reallyinfluential in getting me there. My initial focus was mathematics, and I even spent my junior year studying abroad inBudapest for a math program. It was only after coming back to campus that I decided my real interest was in economics,so I adjusted my courses to double-major in math and econ. I also met my wife, Kristin, at Wash U., and after graduatingwe both moved to Chicago so that I could continue my studies with a PhD program at the University of Chicago.

You published two papers during your time in Chicago. What was the focus? The University ofChicago prides itself on an economics model that is more about thinking through a problem, not justcentering it on math, so a lot of my core courses were actually very creative. My first paper wasabout asset pricing and understanding the risk that is associated with stock values. We know stocksfluctuate, but why is that? It all has to do with risk, but for the last 30 years, we haven’t been able topin down that risk. Ultimately, you want it to be about consumption—and it’s not all too surprisingthat there would be a correlation between people’s happiness and desire to consume and a stock price.My paper actually used household garbage as a measure of consumption. When we measured stocksthat way, using data from the EPA, they looked a lot riskier. When it came to my final thesis, Idecided to focus on mutual funds and the role of active managers.

NYU just hired you as an assistant professor. At 27, that’s quite an accomplishment. One of the thingsI found most appealing about NYU was that my department hires a lot of young people, all engaged intheir respective areas of study. There’s tremendous opportunity to collaborate with other professors,attend conferences and continue my research before taking on a heavy course load. I’m actually notteaching any classes yet, but next semester I’ll start with an entry-level undergraduate course called the

Foundations of Financial Markets. In the meantime, I’m working on a paper that looks at options trading and another thatwill be studying human capital. I’m also hoping to continue to further develop my thesis on mutual funds.

Was your time at Calhoun influential to your career in any way? What are some of your fondest memories? My educa-tional experience in Bulgaria was lecture-oriented, where I was always on the receiving end of information, so coming toCalhoun was extremely beneficial. I really loved the educational philosophy at Calhoun, the critical thinking that goes onhere, the importance that’s placed on asking questions; to me that’s a major hallmark of the school, having students who

alexi savov ’01

recently returned to

New york for a new

position as assistant

professor at New

york university.

the April issue of Etc.magazine. Find out more:about Nicole’s work andupcoming exhibitions at:www.nicole-wilson.com.

2000sChris Kompanek ’01 has

been actively writing forseveral publications,including regular gigs forClassical TV, The AV Club,TheaterMania and TheHuffington Post. InOctober he had his firstarticle printed in the NewYork Post, interviewingAndy Borowitz for a two-

page spread in the Homesection. Keep an eye outfor more articles by Chris!

Josh Raeben ’01 recentlymoved back to New Yorkfrom the Vail/BeaverCreek ski areas inColorado. He continues towork for MTV Networks,where he serves as an

online operations analyst.Josh also volunteers as afirefighter on Fire Island,and in March will beparticipating in the ScottFirefighter Stairclimb inSeattle to benefit theLeukemia and LymphomaSociety. The eventinvolves Josh climbing 69

flights of stairs in theColumbia Center towerwith full gear. To learnmore and support Josh,visit http://climb.raeben.com.

audrey Black ’02 has beenliving in Playa delCarmen, Mexico, whereshe and her boyfriend

have a company thatdirects, shoots andproduces promotionaltravel videos for manylocal businesses, theirbiggest client beingTelemundo. Audrey doesmost of the camera opera-tion, which she admitsshe’s still learning, but sofar she loves the experience.


Alumnae/iClassNotes

seafood restaurant on West79th Street.

Jack Hale ’03 wasrecently promoted at theHallmark Channel andHallmark Movie Channel,where he is now workingas a sales planner for thedirect response ad salesteam. Earlier this fall,Hallmark Channel becamethe new home of TheMartha Stewart Showwhen Martha decided tojoin the likes of ConanO’Brien and OprahWinfrey by moving hershow from broadcasttelevision to cable.

Emma Dumain ’04 lives inWashington, DC, whereshe’s a reporter forCongressional Quarterly.She reports from CapitolHill on legislation as itmoves through Congress,

Hillary Gluck ’02, who willbe graduating from theUniversity of ConnecticutSchool of Law this spring,was married last July toAndrew Wasicek at aceremony at ColgateUniversity, where theymet. Erin Brizius ’02 andsarah Thomas [’02] servedas bridesmaids, with otherCalhounders in attendance,including audrey Black ’02,alex Dichne ’02, Kendra

Vizciano ’02 and LowerSchool teacher and formervolleyball coach IsabelRuiz. Hillary worked lastsummer at the ImmigrationCourt in Manhattan. Sheand Andrew plan to returnto New York once theyboth complete law school.

Todd Garrin ’02 is pursuinghis master’s in media,culture and communicationat the Steinhardt School atNew York University,while also continuing towork at ABC, where he isan executive assistant forthe show One Life to Live.

Gianni Cionchi ’03 contin-ues to expand his work inthe hospitality industry. Inaddition to serving as amanager at Kefi restaurantin New York, Gianni hasbeen busy with executivechef/owner MichaelPsilakis in opening anotherUpper West Side eaterycalled Fish Tag, a raw-bar

challenge people’s assertions. In my seminars with otherprofessors at NYU there’s a huge amount of debate, wherewe question one another and are constantly challenging thefindings of our colleagues. It’s very active, with a lot ofpresentations and discussions, and that foundation wasshaped by Calhoun. I’m also extremely grateful for the closeattention I received from teachers here. John Roeder took mein during my senior year for a one-on-one Calculus BCprogram (a college-level course), and I’m so thankful andappreciative of that; it gave me a huge leg up when I startedmy math program in college. Outside of classes, I loved theannual ski trip to Stowe and my time playing on the soccerteam, which is a sport I played growing up in Bulgaria. Itwas especially crushing, in my junior year, to have anundefeated soccer season end with a loss in the finals. Butevery time I come from the airport and pass Randall’s Island,I think about how amazing it was to play in that stadium.

What’s your overall take on the state of our economy today?A lot of attention has been given to the role of derivatives,which I don’t think are problematic in their essence; we usederivatives trading in plenty of other industries and it’s justfine. But the issue is with the incentives that it provided. Idefinitely think putting it into a more centralized exchangewould help, so that the prices can reflect the market. Theother thing that worries me is how much the Fed is beinginfluenced by politicians today. We really need it to bemaintained as an independent bank, and we’re seeing far toomany members of Congress meddling in the Fed’s work. Itrust Chairman Bernanke and think he’s the right person tonavigate the economy today, but he’s being pulled from fartoo many sides. What we need to be careful about is notmaking the same mistakes that Japan did in terms of infla-tion rates and pricing indexes, which dug them deeper intoeconomic recession.

2

11. Luke alpert ’09 hiked 500 miles of

the appalachian Trail.

2. Rachel Geisler ’09 is touring with

Spring Awakening.

fantastic teacher,” boastsher new boss, fellow alumalison Max ’85. Hannahalso continues to takeclasses in improv andsketch comedy writing atUpright Citizens Brigade.

Peter Zurkuhlen ‘06 andCasey shane ‘06 helpedlead Cougar Athletics asCalhoun coaches this pastfall. Peter, who graduatedfrom Centre College lastMay, signed on as assistantcoach to the Girls’ JVVolleyball Team. Peter isalso currently serving asthe head coach to the MSBoys’ Basketball Team.Casey, who graduatedfrom Emerson College lastMay, returned to his glorydays on the Boys’ VarsitySoccer Team as an assis-tant coach, and then signedon as assistant coach forthe Boys’ VarsityBasketball Team. Lastsummer, Casey and Peterwere joined by JohnZurkuhlen ’09, JonathanJimenez ’06 and hundredsof other athletes onRandall’s Island, to playand raise money forSoccer for Peace. Theorganization is a six-year-old charity that bringsyoung Israeli and Arabplayers together for train-ing camps every year.This was the third consec-utive year that the Cougarguys participated in theevent.

samara savino ’06, whograduated last May fromHofstra University, spentthree months in Paris as anintern in the law office ofMaitre Gilbert Collard etAssocies. The crash coursein French law (andlanguage) was enough toinspire Samara to returnhome and apply to lawschool. While she prepsfor the LSATs, Samara issubstitute-teaching atCalhoun’s Lower School.“I loved Calhoun! I’m sohappy to be back!”

sabrina spiegel ’06 washired this winter asCalhoun’s first schoolnurse, responsible formanaging all medicalrecords, health policiesand related activities forthe school, and developingCalhoun’s health curricu-lum. Sabrina received herundergraduate degree andtraining at New YorkUniversity’s College ofNursing, where she was aUniversity Honors Scholar.As an alum, Sabrina hasbeen actively engagedwith Calhoun since shegraduated: She is in herfourth year as an athleticscoach, having led theGirls’ JV VarsityVolleyball Team to thesemifinals this fall andcurrently serving as theassistant coach to Girls’Varsity Basketball.

amy Blackman ’07 will begraduating from theUniversity of Michigan

40 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Alumnae/iClassNotes

“My gift counts because it means another child can gain access to all

the unconditional support and countless opportunities

that I received.” Richard Sung ’95

www.calhoun.org/onlinegiving

and her specific focus hasbeen on ethics and govern-ment affairs. “I mostrecently covered[Congressman Charles]Rangel’s ethics trial,which was an excitingchallenge!” Emma notes.

seth Melnick ’05 iscurrently working for theNYC Taxi and LimousineCommission as an analyst

in the office of policy. Thisis after spending most ofthe past year travelingthrough Asia. He gradu-ated from ColumbiaUniversity in May 2009.

Hannah scarritt-selman ’05

has returned to Calhoun asan associate teacher in theLower School, where sheworks with second throughfourth graders. “She’s a

this spring, earning herBFA in musical theater.Last summer she workedat St. Louis’ MUNY—thebiggest outdoor theater inthe country, which seatsapproximately 11,000people and hires collegestudents for the ensembles.While there, Amy hadroles in performances ofBeauty and the Beast,Titanic and The Sound ofMusic. She’s alreadyreceived her Actors’Equity card and will bereturning to New York inMay, when Michigan hostsa senior showcase foragents.

shawn Palmer ’07, a seniorat Connecticut Collegemajoring in theater andEnglish, spent the springsemester last year inLondon, studying at theBritish American DramaAcademy. Back atConnecticut College thisfall, she produced anddirected a production ofProof, and acted in it aswell. Last year she co-produced Elie Wiesel’sTrial of God. She singsclassical music in chamberchoir and recitals, and forthe last two years has beena member of theConnecticut Lyric Opera, asemiprofessional companythat tours Connecticut infall and spring produc-tions. Over the holidayseason she appeared withthe opera companyproduction of Mozart’s

Magic Flute in NewLondon, Middletown andNew Britain, among otherplaces.

sam schreck ’07, who’sfinishing his senior year atthe College of William &Mary, spent last summer inBrussels, where he workedas a public affairs internfor the United StatesMission to NATO.Among his projects wascompiling (and sometimeswriting) talking points forUS-NATO discussions onAfghanistan, Kosovo andNATO reform. One of thebiggest summer highlights,though, came when thedefense ministers’ confer-ence convened in June inBrussels, as Sam had theunique opportunity to meetSecretary of DefenseRobert Gates—and eventravel in his motorcadeback to the airport!

Liza Garrin ’08, a student atthe Fashion Institute ofTechnology, has beenpursuing her dream jobwith an internship at RalphLauren. It’s no surprise toCalhoun classmates, whowill remember Liza’sfabulous senior projectfashion show—stillviewable on YouTube.

Luke alpert ’09 took offfall semester from OberlinCollege to hike theAppalachian Trail.Traveling solo from theend of August to mid-October, he hiked close to500 miles—from Vermont

to Connecticut, and thenthrough the Shenandoahand Blue Ridge mountainsin Virginia. When hewasn’t hiking—which hedid nine hours each day,carrying about 40 poundson his back—Luke spenthis time writing poetry andkeeping a daily journal.Back in New York, Lukehas been subbing in LittleCalhoun. He was alsoinvited to speak to EllenKwon’s eleventh gradeEnglish class about thetranscendentalist philoso-phers and how they shapedand guided his Appala-chian adventure. Lukereturns to Oberlin thisspring.

Rachel Geisler ’09 took aleave from NYU this yearto tour with the nationalcompany of SpringAwakening. She’splaying the role of Annaand understudies for Ilse.The company began itstour in October and

continues through May.Alums and friends in the“diaspora” can see her onthe road! Stops comingup in February: Tucson,Los Angeles, Denver,Albuquerque.www.springawakening.com.

Francesca aborn ’09 andTerry Horowitz ’09, bothsophmores at BatesCollege, made a beeline forChef Bobo’s lunch whenthey stopped by Calhounduring their fall break andagain for the HarvestFestival Homecoming.Both were in Chef Bobo’scooking class in UpperSchool, so they werethrilled to enjoy anotherone of his meals. Terry isa biology major andFrancesca a sociologymajor. Besides her studies,Francesca is currentlyserving as a big sister to achild in Somalia.

Ben Blackman ’10, a theatermajor in his first year at


Alumnae/iClassNotes

What’s New?Your classmates want to know!

Please send photos and updates—job changes, moves, exciting projects or opportunities, births, weddings

or mem ories. Don’t be modest:

Your news is important to us!

Send your news to [email protected]

the University of Michi-gan, has already been castin a lead role! He will beplaying Benedick in theMichigan theater depart-ment’s main stage produc-tion of Much Ado AboutNothing.

Ben Ellentuck ’10 has beennamed one of ten winnersin the 2010 YoungPlaywrights Inc. NationalPlaywriting Competitionfor his play The HumanHeart. As a winner, Benattended the YoungPlaywrights conference inNew York City toworkshop his play inpreparation for off-Broadway staged readingsat the Cherry LaneTheater, January 10–12.

Laura Evans ’10 is in herfirst year at DePaulUniversity, where she’spursuing a degree inelementary education. Shehas been actively volun-teering at a homelessshelter and continues topromote awareness forDuchenne MuscularDystrophy (DMD) andDarius Weems’ Charley’sFund, a project she firstbecame involved with atCalhoun.

Jackie Katz ’10, in her firstyear at Brown, is alreadybeing published! Anautobiographical essay isgoing to be in the compila-tion Live and Let Love byAndrea Buchanan, to bepublished by Simon &Schuster in February.

42 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

INTERNSHIPS & JOBS WANTED

Support our Calhoun grads and Upper Schoolers!

For Calhoun Seniors, April 25 to June 9, 2011As part of our new mod schedule, all 12th graders will be

completing senior year with a six-week internship this spring. If you can support an Upper School student with an internship opportunity, please contact Lavern McDonald, Upper School

Associate Director, [email protected], 212-497-6517.

For Alums & Upper SchoolersIf you know of a full- or part-time internship or job opportunity,

please fill out the form on Calhoun’s website, www.calhoun.org/internshipbank or contact Bart Hale ’00,

[email protected], 646-666-6450.

Alums Cave to Faculty in Basketball Challenge

Faculty/staffers beat alums, 62–54, in the sixth annual Basketball Challenge held in January, bringing the overall series to an even 3-3 record.Clearly, the alums suffered when four players—Casey Shane ’06, Peter

Zurkuhlen ’06, Bobby Rue ’85 and Shaniquoa Elrington ’96 —“crossed to the other side” as Calhoun staffers. But Calhoun’s newest coaches, Brian Peters ’97 and Richard Lin ’97, stayed true to their alumni roots, while coach Sabrina Spiegel ’06

maintained neutral ground as timer. The alum team also missed regulars Eric Potoker ’85, Ross Kleinberg ’88 and Neil Kleinberg ’85.Alums will need to wait until next January to get their revenge!

Alum Team (Back Row, L-R) Kevin Karp ’09, Nate Silverstein ’06, Dean Dioguardi ’07, Ron Dinkins ’78,

Brian Peters ’97, Max Bosch ’07, Berm Pluvoise ’05; (Front) Jamil Cordova ’96, Richard Lin ’97,

Zach Lazare ’08, Angie Soto ’97, Andres Rivera ’09, Peter Fidler ’79, David Kramer ’02

FORMER FACULTY/STAFF

John Brennan (phys edteacher, 1971–1979) wentto Fairfield Prep (CT) in1979 as a guidancecounselor. In 1980, hejoined the administrationand become the housemas-ter/dean of students.Brennan has workedsummers since 1964 as thechief lifeguard atRockaway Beach inQueens, NY.

Helen Bruno (MS socialstudies teacher, 1992–2006) returned to Calhounat Harvest Festival to catchup with former studentsand colleagues. Shereminisced with Bart Hale

’00 about comic bookprojects on the New Deal,trips to Washington, DC,and Italy, and frequentStarbucks coffee visits.Helen is currently teachingmiddle school history atBay Ridge PreparatorySchool in Brooklyn.

Stacey P. Giordano (USbiology teacher, 1999) wasnamed the new dean offaculty at Saddle RiverDay School (NJ), effectivelast July. Prior to SaddleRiver, she had been theacademic dean at theAlbany Academies. Shecontinues to teach ninthgrade biology.

Neen Hunt (Head ofSchool, 1980–1992) hasbeen named AcademicHead of the OxbridgeAcademy, a newindependent high schoolthat will open in the fall inWest Palm Beach, FL.Founded by William “Bill”Koch, CEO of OxbowCarbon, the school willbegin its inaugural yearwith a ninth grade andpossibly a tenth gradeclass. Neen writes that theschool will be “cutting-edge.”

Robert Schaecher

(Community ServiceDirector and Upper SchoolDirector, 1978–1998) isretiring at the end of thiscurrent school year after40 years in education. Heis currently the chair of theethics department for theFieldston Middle/UpperSchools (where he’s beensince he left Calhoun),which includes Fieldston’sstudent-to-student peerleadership programs andthe community service andservice-learning programs.Robert was responsible forformalizing Calhoun’scommunity serviceprogram as part of theUpper School curriculumin the mid-’80s. While heplans to stop his full-timeteaching and administra-tive duties, Robert says heisn’t yet ruling out part-time or adjunct teaching inareas of interest such asphilosophy and religion.

Sarah Strauss (US history,1998–2006) is currently anupper school history andsocial science teacher atPacker Collegiate Institutein Brooklyn.

For a listing of former faculty/

staff members and their

contact emails, log in to the

Alumnae/i Portal at

www.calhoun.org/alum.


IN MEMORIAM

Remembering Judith Brindley

Judith Brindley, Calhoun US artteacher from 1981 to 1997,passed away in mid-Octoberafter a long fight against cancer. Judith left Calhoun with some

long-lasting legacies: She wasthe “inventor” of the Egg Dropcontest, which continues to beone of the school’s most popular

traditions. And she, along with former US historyteacher Jim Greene, was responsible for the MonaLisa project—examples of which still grace theschool’s walls. In a memorial service held in Riverside Park on

December 4, 2010, members of the Calhoun commu-nity gathered to help celebrate her life. Among thosein attendance were alums Adam Campagna ’84, Katie

Dreisbach ’98, Tanya Hotton ’85, Alicia Rosenthal ‘86,Rebecca Barber ’86 and former and currentfaculty/staff Rosetta Cohen, Eva Rado, John Roeder,Barbara Bernard and Nancy Sherman. Bobby Rue ’85

was among those who offered reflections at theservice. Others posted their own testimonials onCalhoun’s alumnae/i Facebook page.In addition to her daughters, Annika Brindley ’86

and Christina Lowenstein (former ASP teacher),Judith left another great legacy to Calhoun—grand-daughter Fiona Lowenstein ’12, who is alreadyshowing the creative spirit and leadership that hergrandmother exemplified. We offer sincere condolences to the family.

Alumnae/iClassNotes

Alumnae/iReunions

44 W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

Fourth annual Pub NightNOVEMBER 23, 2010

Calhoun grads gathered en masse before the Thanksgiving holiday

for the Fourth annual alumnae/i Pub Night. The venue was

changed to The Parlour Irish Pub & Restaurant to accommodate

what ended up being a record turnout for the event, as alums from

1980 to 2007 enjoyed a free open bar with friends and former

teachers. a total of 68 alums came out for the homecoming.

1. (L-R) Kendra Vizcaino ’02,

Jennifer Meyers ’02, Todd Garrin ‘02

2. (L-R) alex Gelband ’05, Ms math teacher

Phil Bender, Josh Raeben ‘01

3. (L-R) Tanya Hotton ’85, Eric Potoker ’85,

alison Max ’85, us social studies teacher

Jonas Hamilton, Bobby Rue ’85,

Melissa Kimmel saperstein ‘85

4. (L-R) Theo Goodman ’06, Roey Mizrahi ’03,

alex sanchez ‘03

5. (L-R) David Katz ’06, Rory sasson ’06,

Nate silverstein ’06, Peter Zurkuhlen ’06,

David Ouimette ‘06

6. (L-R) alex Israel ‘06, Katie schreiber ’06,

Rachel Wiedermann ‘06

7. (L-R) alexi savov ’01, Peter Concannon ’01,

Max Torgovnick ‘02

5

2

6

7

1

3

4

MORE PHOTOs ONLINEwww.calhoun.org/alumphotos


Alumnae/iReunions

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1

Harvest Fest Reunites alumsNOVEMBER 24, 2010

as part of a long-standing tradition, more recent grads

returned to Calhoun for the annual Harvest Fest luncheon

on the afternoon before Thanksgiving. Chef Bobo prepared

a delicious menu of old favorites for the alums, who came

back to reconnect and visit with former teachers.

5

1. (L-R) Chef Bobo,

shanta Best ‘10

2. (L-R) us associate Director

Lavern McDonald,

Leah Cramer Gibbs ‘10

3. (L-R) Peter Berman ‘11, sam

scarritt-selman ‘08, music

teacher Victor Lin

4. (L-R) Destiny Orr ’10, amalia

safran ’09, Terry Horowitz ’09,

Francesca aborn ‘09

5. (L-R) Ben Waters ’10,

alicia Vasquez ’10,

Jackie Katz ‘10

6. (L-R) Chef Bobo, Michelle

Rudin ’10, sam sadowsky ’10,

Michael Ferguson ’10 (front)

7. (L-R) Erika Brinzac ’10,

Rachel Glicksberg ‘10

2

6

4

7

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2011ONLINE REsERVaTIONs: www.calhoun.org/reservations

MaRy LEa JOHNsON PERFORMING aRTs CENTER

Calhoun Performing Arts Series

MUS I C

Sub Rosa Indie ConcertFriday, February 11, 7pm

Juilliard Jazz OrchestraFriday, April 8, 7pm

DOC P LUS TA LK

The Prep School NegroQ & A with director André Robert Lee

Tuesday, February 15, 7pmFree. RSVP: www.calhoun.org/prep

TALK

Middle East Challenges& OpportunitiesMonday, April 11, 7pm

K IDS TU F F

Junie B. JonesA TheatreworksUSA production

Saturday, April 9, 2pm

Non-ProfitOrganizationu.s. Postage

PaIDNew york, NyPermit No. 7202

the calhoun chronicle, winter 2011

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