the calhoun chronicle, winter 2013

13 Supporting Sandy Relief 35 Alumnae/i

News9 Calhoun Traditions18 Calhoun Raises Its Voice

for Public Purpose wintEr 2013

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Editor

Beth [email protected]

AlumnAE/i nEws

Bart Hale ‘[email protected]

Copy Editor

Amy Edelman

EditoriAl AssistAnts

Angela fischerElizabeth garveyMichelle raum

Contributing writErs

Alison BennettSonia Bonsu ’95Laura DoddBrendan KielySteve NelsonBenny tuchman ‘12

photogrAphErs

gary Joseph CohenKazumi fish ‘15Beth KriegerPaul Leunggiovanni PacificiHeather Sasaki-Parker

dEsign

iris A. Brown Design, LLC

o n t h e C oV e R

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the 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.

Pa r e n t s a s s o c i at i o n 2 0 1 1 – 2 0 1 2

offiCErs

Co-Presidents

Andrea BoothMare Louise rubin

seCretary

Louise gore

treasurer

Andrea Black

ViCe Presidents, uPPer sChool

Claudia BrownBarbara Woods

ViCe Presidents, Middle sChool

Amy EdelmanLisa Konorty

ViCe Presidents, lower sChool/81st

Meg PryorLisa Shaub

ViCe Presidents, lower sChool/74th

Chris rothermelSusan Barkey

Eric Potoker ’85Chair

Karen SegalVice Chair

Jon BrayshawTreasurer

Erika BrewerSecretary

Steven J. NelsonHead of School

life trustees

robert L. Beir*Eric B. ryan

*deceased

B o a r d o f t r u s t e e s 2 0 1 1 – 2 0 1 2

trustEEs

Andrea BoothLori fleishman Dorr ‘92James glasgowMelanie griffithDorian HerronDylan HixonDavid Kramer ’02Melissa LibertyMichael MarraDebra MayerMarc MurphyColleen Pike BlairShaiza rizaviMare Louise rubinSusan thomsonMilton L. Williams, Jr.

honorAry trustEEs

Edwin Einbender*Constance Stern flaum ’39ronald M. foster, Jr.*Sally goodgold*Lawrence S. HarrisMark S. KaufmannAnne frankenthaler

Kohn ’39*Peter D. LedererStuart Levin*David C. Masket*Joan MasketArthur S. olickElizabeth Parmelee*June Saltzman Schiller ’42Jesse S. Siegel*Mary-Ellen greenberger Siegel ’49Allen B. SwerdlickEdward S. tishman

*deceased

t H e c a L H o u n s c H o o L

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]

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Editor

Beth [email protected]

nEws Editor

Jim [email protected]

AlumnAE/i nEws

Bart Hale ‘[email protected]

Copy Editor

Amy Edelman

EditoriAl AssistAnts

Angela fischerMichelle raum

Contributing writErs

Elissa KompanekSteve Nelson

photogrAphErs

Jim ByrneBeth Krieger

dEsign

iris A. Brown Design, LLC

o n t h e C oV e R

Middle School and Upper School students took to the street on election day to “Rock the Vote.”

w I n t e R 2 0 1 3

the 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.

Pa r e n t s a s s o c i at i o n 2 0 1 2 - 2 0 1 3

offiCErs

Co-Presidents

Andrea BoothMare Louise rubin

seCretary

Lynda roca

treasurer

Barbara Pyles

ViCe Presidents, uPPer sChool

Ellen CohenBarbara Woods

ViCe Presidents, Middle sChool

Nicole frankelrosa Sabater

ViCe Presidents, lower sChool/81st

Sara HeldNeeraj Parasher

ViCe Presidents, lower sChool/74th

David HawkinsLora Vaccaro

Eric Potoker ’85Chair

Karen SegalVice Chair

Jon BrayshawTreasurer

Erika BrewerSecretary

Steven J. NelsonHead of School

life trustees

robert L. Beir*Eric B. ryan

*deceased

B o a r d o f t r u s t e e s 2 0 1 2 - 2 0 1 3

trustEEs

Susan BarkeyJonathan Bauman Andrea Booth, PA repLori fleishman Dorr ‘92James glasgowMelanie griffithDorian HerronDylan HixonMelissa LibertyMichael MarraMarc MurphyBrooke ParishColleen Pike BlairShaiza rizaviMare Louise rubin, PA repSusan thomson

honorAry trustEEs

Edwin Einbender*Constance Stern flaum ’39ronald M. foster, Jr.*Sally goodgold*Lawrence S. HarrisMark S. KaufmannAnne frankenthaler

Kohn ’39*Peter D. LedererStuart Levin*David C. Masket*Joan MasketArthur S. olickElizabeth Parmelee*June Saltzman Schiller ’42Jesse S. Siegel*Mary-Ellen greenberger Siegel ’49Allen B. SwerdlickEdward S. tishman

*deceased

t H e c a L H o u n s c H o o L

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 email to [email protected]

Ph

oto: B

eth K

rieger



w I n t e R 2 0 1 3

14

Feature Private School with a Public Purpose:

Calhoun raises its Voice 18

Departments V I e w P o I n t 2

by Steve Nelson

S C h o o l n e w S

Deconstructing racism 3

tEDxtheCalhounSchool 3

in Memoriam: Lil Lulkin 3

LS game Night 5

Benefit 2013 6

grandparents initiatives 7

Calhoun traditions 9

Newsmakers 10

Calhoun Supports Sandy relief 13

Calhoun onstage 14

Sports 16

A lu m n A e / I n e w S

Alumnae/i Council 35

Class Notes 36

Voices: Sheila Daise Bernard-Lassiter ’81 37

Voices: greg goodman ’98 40

Pub Night 44

Holiday reunion Luncheon 45

16

45

12

18

Content s

2

tHE CALHoUN CHroNiCLE

scHooL neWs-vieWPoint-2 coL

of course by “raise Your Voice,” we are not specifically seeking

greater volume. We don’t really have to encourage that! “raising

your voice” has much deeper implications for education—for

society—than mere loudness. As we learn throughout life, the most

powerful expressions are often gentle and evocative. A poem packs

a greater wallop than a sledgehammer.

this wonderful issue of The Calhoun Chronicle will introduce you

to some of the ways we invite members of our community to stand

up for what they believe, to take a position, to engage in the affairs

of the world. raising our voices, individually and collectively, is

part of our responsibility as a private school with a public purpose.

this aspect of our mission is

self-evident in our progressive

roots. for more than a century,

progressive schools have been

built with highly permeable

walls between the school and

the communities and world in

which they operate.

our children’s futures

are inextricably connected

to the world around us. it

is enlightened self-interest

to get them a head start on

having a voice. it is also our

responsibility to help them do

so; it provides the most meaningful context for powerful, relevant

learning. the pages that follow present a lively chorus of student

and faculty voices. in this year of “raise Your Voice,” it has been

immensely satisfying to reflect on how well we engage in the real

issues of our complex global society.

But while our mission and yearly theme exhort us to raise our

voices, we must remember that a raised voice is not our only or

greatest power. A raised voice has no meaning without a receptive

ear. We must listen well to others and not be afraid of silence.

Wisdom arises as often from deep reflection as from passionate

argument.

i’m reminded of an experience many years ago on a remote

beach on the north shore of Lake Superior. the late-afternoon blue

sky was thick enough to stir with a spoon. A fat orange sun sat on

the horizon. it was profoundly silent, except for the faint hum of

the generators from the handful of recreational vehicles parked side

by side on the miles-long beach. the inhabitants were watching

television. for whatever reason, they were unable, unwilling or

afraid to be alone with the silent beauty.

i worried then and i worry more now that we are losing our

ability to really listen—to one another and to the eloquence of

solitude. our lives, especially in New York City, are chaotic and

constantly filled with digital noise. i don’t think this is natural to our

species—to any species—and may have consequences beyond our

ken.

So raise your voices. Sing songs of love and justice. But then

listen well. in life as in music, the most beautiful moments rest in

the silent spaces, the echoes, the stillness at the end of a perfectly

shaped phrase.

engaging in the World with raised voice and receptive ear

Many things distinguish the Calhoun School from other public and private schools. i doubt, for example, that many other schools would adopt a school-wide theme titled “raise Your Voice!” Most schools, certainly the schools of my childhood, are more interested in lowering student voices or, more often, not listening to their voices at all.

ViewpointBY StEVEN J. NELSoN, Head of SCHool


“Our children’s futures are inextricably connected to the world around us. It is enlightened self-interest to get them a head start on having a voice. It is also our responsibility to help them do so; it provides the most meaningful context for powerful, relevant learning.”

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scHooL neWs-3 coLumn

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After a lengthy search, Point Made films has

been selected as the creative team for Calhoun’s

upcoming documentary film, deconstructing

Racism (working title). the announcement was

made early this fall by David Alpert, project

director of Calhoun’s three-part initiative, which

was awarded a $243,063 grant last year by the

W. K. Kellogg foundation of Battle Creek, Mi.

Leading the Point Made films team is direc-

tor/writer Catherine Wigginton greene, whose

film credits include In 500 Words or less and

adopted; and producer André robert Lee, pro-

ducer and director of the acclaimed documen-

tary film The Prep School Negro.

deconstructing Racism will focus on the

personal stories of students from independent

and public schools as they confront the effects

of institutionalized racism and white privilege.

the work intends to draw students, teachers

and parents into an active dialogue surrounding

the deeply destructive effects of colorblindness,

and a fear of directly talking about racism in a

society that some call post-racial. the decon-

structing Racism project was the subject of a

recent article in The New York Times, “Admitted,

but Left out” (oct. 19, 2012), which referenced

the initiatives of Calhoun and two other NYC

independent schools to address issues of race

and equity.

“We’re thrilled to have Point Made films

onboard,” says David. “Not only is the team’s

style of filmmaking in keeping with our vision,

but its track record with such acclaimed films as

The Prep School Negro and adopted shows an

unusual ability to keep young people emotion-

ally safe when working with and confronting

challenging and sensitive issues.“

to support the educational outreach of the

documentary film, a core team of educators

chaired by Calhoun’s Director of Diversity &

Equity initiatives, Hilary North, will be leading

the creation of a companion curriculum for stu-

dents from K–12th grades. An interactive website

for students will also be produced. Partnerships

with public and independent school students

and teachers have already begun to support this

work, but Hilary notes that the participation of

Point Made films in these efforts will be signifi-

cant. “in addition to the filmmakers’ experience

in exploring complex issues of identity,” says

Hilary, “is their unique set of strengths in devel-

oping curriculum and social media resources to

further deepen the viewer’s engagement with

the content of their films. this is exactly what

we are aiming to do through the deconstructing

Racism project.”

David says Calhoun is seeking additional

funding partners to match the original grant

from Kellogg. Expected launch date for all three

projects is 2014. for more information, contact

David at [email protected].

Point made films to direct doc on racism

lIl lulkIn, longtIme kInDeRgARten teACheR, DIeS At 78

Lil Lulkin, beloved kindergarten teacher at calhoun for 34 years, passed away on January 5, 2013, at the age of 78.

she has been called the “master teacher” by colleagues, and former students and parents remember the intuitive wisdom, warmth and generosity of spirit that made Lil’s kindergarten a memorable experience for everyone lucky enough to find him- or herself within her magic circle.

Lil came to calhoun in 1970, first as an assistant 3’s teacher and then as a kindergarten teacher, a position she held through three different buildings and five Heads of school. By the time she retired in 2004, she had taught hundreds of calhoun children (one guesstimate was 525 kids). she served as an inspiration and mentor to many of calhoun’s Lower school teachers, including first grade teacher tillie scarritt and current Ls co-director alison max rothschild ‘85—who was both a kindergarten student of Lil’s and, after her graduation from college, an assistant teacher who worked alongside her.

Lil leaves behind her husband, irving, her sons, stuart and robert, daughter-in-laws, stacy and donna, grandchildren, felissa, mitchell and Jonathan, and a sister. condolences may be sent to the family in care of the alumni office/Lil Lulkin memoriam, the calhoun school, 433 West end avenue, ny, ny 10024.

Tedx/TheCalhounSchool presents “Issues of Education,” March 4

TEDx/TheCalhounSchool presents an evening

with renowned educators Nancy Carlsson-

Paige and Linda F. Nathan on March 4,

7:00pm, in Calhoun’s Mary Lea Johnson

Performing Arts Center.

Nancy will address the topic “When Educa-

tion Goes Wrong: Taking the Creativity and

Play out of Learning”; Linda will talk about

“Why Art Matters.”

A professor emerita of Lesley University,

Nancy writes about the impact of media on

children’s lives and social development. She is

also the founder of Defending the Early Years

(DEY), a nonprofit project whose purpose is to

encourage educators to speak out about cur-

rent policies that are affecting the education

of young children. Her latest book is Taking

Back Childhood.

Linda is the founding headmaster of

Boston Arts Academy and an internationally

recognized teacher and speaker on school

reform. She is the author of The Hardest

Questions Aren’t on the Test: Lessons from

an Innovative Urban School.

This independent TEDx event is operated

under license from TED. Tickets are $10 for

adults, $5 for students and seniors, and may be

purchased online at www.calhoun.org/tickets.

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school nEws

new affinity groups for ParentsThree new parent affinity groups are in various

stages of formation this year—Parents of Color,

Touched by Adoption, and Raising Resilient

Girls. All three emerged from parent interest,

notes Hilary North, Calhoun’s Director of

Diversity and Equity Initiatives, who is helping

organize and support the groups’ initiatives.

Hilary welcomes suggestions for additional

affinity groups. She asks, “What about a group

focused on learning differences? Or for LGBT

parents?”

Childcare is provided during all affinity

group meetings to facilitate participation. For

more information, email Hilary at hilary.north@

calhoun.org.

n Parents of Color: Calhoun parents and

guardians who identify as people of color can

discuss their unique experiences and find

community. Two meeting dates remain for this

school year, March 11 and May 20, 6:30–8:00pm.

Parent contact: Julie Mellony.

n touched by Adoption: In the making for a

couple of years, this affinity group focuses

on adoptive parenting. It is open to Calhoun

parents and guardians who seek information

and support around the unique issues and

challenges that can arise within alternative

family models. The group works closely with

Leanne Jaffe, LCSW, of Adapting to Adoption.

Remaining meeting dates this year are Feb.

11 and April 8, 6:00–7:30pm. Parent contacts:

Carolyn Tierney and Charles Carter.

n Raising Resilient girls: This is a group

currently in formation for parents and

guardians who are interested in learning about

and supporting one another in parenting

daughters in today’s social environment. Topics

for discussion will focus on issues of gender

particular to girls and women. Meetings will be

led by a professional facilitator. First meeting

of the year is on February 27, with two more

scheduled, April 24 and May 29, 6:30–8:00pm.

Parent contact: Patience Sundaresan.

Journalist Charles Blow Gives Pre-Election Talk

Calhoun community members and neighbors

came out on the evening of the last presidential

debate in october, for a pre-debate review of

the political landscape by Charles M. Blow, visual

op-ed columnist for The New York Times. the

event was hosted by Calhoun’s 2012–13 Perform-

ing Arts Series, now in its ninth year.

Charles talked about this election’s voter

identification requirements, which he called a

“republican strategy to put voters in confu-

sion—specifically targeting young college

students, the elderly and Hispanic.” He noted

that unfettered money had a huge effect on

local races. “in New York City, we don’t see the

barrage of advertising they’re getting else-

where,” but one ad salesman told him that the

big lobby groups had bought all the ad space

well in advance of the campaign season—which

meant “locals couldn’t afford to or even find the

space to do so. So how do you get knowledge-

able about local candidates?”

the political landscape, acknowledged

Charles, is more divisive than it’s been in 40

years. “it’s broken. the only way to make

changes in our election laws is through consti-

tutional amendment, but that seems unlikely

considering the fact that that hasn’t happened

in forever” and “we’re electing more strident

candidates instead of moderates.” in 20 years,

he projected, “if Hispanics in texas outnumber

whites two-to-one, that could be the tipping

point. republicans can’t win without texas.”

Calhoun’s CSA Completes Its Third Year

Even Sandy couldn’t affect the bounty that mem-

bers of Calhoun’s CSA enjoyed this fall. tomatoes,

eggplant, cauliflower and more kinds of greens

than you knew existed were all plentiful. one

member admits to a new taste for kale, while oth-

ers enjoyed the pork, fruit and egg shares.

CSA shares will be offered for sale in mid-

May for the fall 2013 season. read more about

Calhoun’s CSA at www.calhoun.org/csa.

Anyone interested in joining the leadership

group should contact Claudia Brown,

[email protected].

charles Blow gave a pre-election talk at calhoun in october.

david Hawkins and his daughters make their selection of fresh produce—delivered straight from Paisley farm—as part of their weekly csa share.

INTERNSHIPS WANTED

for caLHoun seniors

monday, april 29 — friday, June 6, 2013

twelfth graders are seeking six-week internships for their last mod before

graduation. if you can support an Upper School student with an internship

opportunity, please contact Lavern McDonald, US Associate Director,

[email protected], 212-497-6517.

read more about our Senior Work internship program:

www.calhoun.org/seniorwork

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Ls74 game night: Little calhounders Join cougar nation fan club!

Almost 70 Lower School parents and kids came out in early December

for LS74 Game Night, to help cheer for the Girls’ Varsity Basketball

team in its fourth game of the season. The young Calhounders and

their families joined the regular Cougar Nation fans during the game,

cheering wildly for the Varsity players as they toppled the York Prep

Panthers in an exciting 54–44 win.

The special event, hosted for Lower School 74th Street families by

Calhoun’s Annual Fund committee, began with face painting and photo

ops with the Cougar mascot, followed by a postgame pizza party and a

meet-and-greet with the team’s players.

The event was staged as a way to connect families in the two build-

ings, explains co-chair Patti Galluzzi. “Some of our families may be at

Little Calhoun, but we are part of one big Calhoun family.” For Annual

Fund co-chair, parent and Calhoun alum Lori Fleishman Dorr ’92, the

experience resonates on a very personal level. “I played Varsity Bas-

ketball at Calhoun, so it was wonderful to sit with all of the enthusiastic

kids and parents while watching the girls win,” she says. “And seeing

about 30 kids chase the Cougar around the gym was priceless.”

Patti and Lori send special thanks to the Development Office team

for helping stage the event, to our star Girls’ Varsity Basketball team

and coach Andrew Gerdes (who even showed the little Calhounders

how he writes the plays!), to the one and only Cougar, and to all the

fans for a great sporting event.

GO, COUGARS!

1. Little calhounders had a ball at Ls game night! fans included (L–r) caia scarola, kali Hageman, Harper dorr, nathaniel coker and sadie Hawkins.

2. the calhoun cougar generated lots of school spirit.

3. girls’ varsity Basketball players came to the postgame pizza party for a victory run and a meet-and-greet with Lower school families: (L–r) rebecca marcus ’14, kazumi fish ‘15, Hannah klingenstein ’13, tiareh cruz ‘13, taj cutting ‘14 (behind), amani orr ‘13 and Lia Barnhard ‘16.

school nEws

Pat metHeny trio Performs for caLHounstraight from his unity Band world tour, jazz great Pat metheny staged a private Benefit concert at calhoun this past october, raising more than $19,000 for the school’s annual fund. the calhoun dad and winner of 19 grammys performed with two of his band members, bassist Ben Williams and drummer antonio sanchez, to an enthusiastic, sold-out audience of parents, students, faculty/staff, alums and friends. “How do you describe it?” mused parent Jennifer taylor after the performance. “the way Pat plays is so emotional. and when you’re in such a small, intimate space, the emotions just wash over you because you’re so close. it was a really powerful experience.”

the Calhoun Benefit is integral to the school’s

fundraising efforts, providing financial support

for everything that makes Calhoun a dynamic

educational experience. Please join us for this

incredible night, featuring:

• cocktail Hour with mojitos and Latin-inspired cuisine

• Live conga drummers

• Live and silent auctions

• seated three-course dinner

• dancing to nyc’s Hottest Latin dJ

Benefit ticket prices range from $300 to

$2,500 per ticket. A portion of the ticket price

is tax-deductible.

guests who purchase the $2,500 ticket will be

invited to attend a Private Walk-Around tasting

Event at Landmarc (at the time Warner

Center) on April 13.

You can also support the Calhoun Benefit by

purchasing faculty tickets or by underwriting

expenses.

Visit www.calhoun.org/benefit for more details

about the evening.

See you on March 1!

Friday, March 1, 2013 7:00pm—12:30am cipriani Wall street

rsvP online at www.calhoun.org/benefitrsvp | or call 212-497-6533 by february 24

Come Celebrate Calhoun at the 2013 Benefit

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Calhoun grandparents have been enjoying cultural

learning experiences in New York City, thanks to

initiatives of the school’s Development office.

the reason for offering the program, says

David Smith, Director of Development and

Alumni Affairs, is to acknowledge and thank our

grandparents, who are always contributing to

the richness of our school community. “grand-

parents volunteer at Calhoun, attend the Ben-

efit, donate to the Annual fund and contribute

joIn uS!

GRANDPARENTS/GRANDFRIENDS

MORNINGMay 3, 2013

Robert l. Beir lower School at 74th Street

It’s a much anticipated event,

when Little Calhoun invites

grandparents and grandfriends for

a morning of classroom visits

and welcoming remarks by

Head of School Steve Nelson

and Lower School Director

Kathleen Clinesmith.

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 RSVP details),

please send your email address to

[email protected],

call 212-497-6578, or sign up online

for email announcements,

www.calhoun.org/grandparentemails.

(top) grandparents enjoyed a formal tea luncheon in the grand ballroom of gracie mansion before going on a private tour of the public and private rooms. (above) donald rubin (right) welcomes calhoun grandparents to the rubin museum of art, known for having the largest Western collection of religious art from the Himalayas, india, china and mongolia.

sauL P. steinBerg, caLHoun Benefactor

yy

yy

calhoun mourns the passing of saul P. steinberg, parent of calhoun alumnus

nicholas steinberg ‘88 and generous patron of the school,

who passed away on december 7, 2012, at the age of 73.

saul was a major contributor to the purchase and renovation of

calhoun’s Lower school building on West 74th street, which opened in 1989;

the 74th street theater is named in honor of his wife, gayfryd steinberg.

calhoun extends its condolences to the steinberg family.

Your gift to the Calhoun Annual Fund

helps support our

one-of-a-kind curriculum.

www.calhoun.org/onlinegivingMake Calhoun Your

Philanthropic Priority

to the school in so many ways,” he says.

thus far, two groups of 20 to 30 grandparents

have participated in private tours of the rubin

Museum of Art and gracie Mansion. the tour

of the rubin Museum was particularly special;

not only was the tour held while the museum

was closed to the public, but it was led by the

very man behind the museum and its vast col-

lection of Himalayan art, Calhoun grandparent

Donald rubin. the tour highlighted some of

the museum’s most valuable pieces and recent

acquisitions, many of which have rarely or never

been exhibited. At gracie Mansion, the group

was excited to see both the public as well the

private rooms in the mayor’s official home—only

viewable when the sitting mayor is not living in

the mansion.

“We are giving Calhoun grandparents an

opportunity to connect with one another while

exploring cultural institutions in special ways that

are not often available to the general public,”

says Nicole Nelson, Director of Special Events.

“the places we see are open to the public, but

the way in which we see them is what makes it

so special.” this spring, Nicole expects to invite

grandparents for private tours of Calhoun, to see

progressive education in practice. Next fall and

winter, the cultural tours will resume.

Calhoun grandparents who would like to

be notified of upcoming events should register

online, at www.calhoun.org/grandparentemails, or

contact Nicole Nelson, 212-497-6533.

calhoun grandparents enjoy cultural ventures

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PArENtS ASSoCiAtioN NEWS

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WiNtEr 2013

AlumS ChIme In on FACebook

Here’s what some alums answered on facebook when we asked, “What do you think some of Calhoun’s oldest, most continuous traditions might be?” Many couldn’t help but share memories that went “outside the box” of institutional traditions. But the Egg Drop and the 12 Days of Christmas assembly were spot on! (Café Calhoun has morphed into an Upper School talent show during assembly time.)

O calhoun traditionsHere we are in our 116th school year. Would you believe it? The 1970s modernistic architecture of Calhoun’s flagship building

certainly belies our age. And the fact that our school thrives on change blurs the fact that our community does, in fact, have

quite a few traditions that have continued through the years. So in answer to inquiring minds that want to know, here’s the

beginning of what we hope will be a definitive list of some of the popular events, projects and uniquely Calhoun quirks that

have transcended the years. Feel free to correct our starting dates or add to the list! Write to [email protected].

school nEws

50+ years [1960s]

n Annual Benefitn Calhoun Carnival, a.k.a.

Spring fair (1963)n Community servicen field Day

40+ years [1970s]

n Book fairn Clustersn Cluster/grade Daysn Harvest festivaln open classroomsn Ski trip (traces back to 1940s)n 12 Days of Christmas assembly

30+ years [1980s]

n Annual tean Egg Dropn Eighth grade English research

paper (c. 1980)n first grade Pocket People n LS Special Courses (since 1980)n MS trips to Washington, DC, and

Boston n US community service

requirement (c. 1980s)n Parent volleyballn Peer Leaders/camping tripn US Class Day

20+ years [early 1990s]

n Cougar mascot (1994)n Kindergarten life-size self-

portraitsn LS Welcome Back Picnic (1990)n MS trips to frost Valley or other

camping destination n Cymbal clanging, marking the

last day of school

15+ years [mid–1990s]

n first Calhoun website, www.calhoun.org (1996)

n first grade Mammal Museumn US Multicultural Club n MS Egyptian tomb project

(c. 1996)n MS Souk project (c. 1996)n US QSP Club, a.k.a. LgBt club

10+ years [late 1990s–2000s]

n Active Physics chapter challenges (c. 1998)

n fourth grade Moving Upn US biology cell construction

project (traced back to 1999)n Steve’s graduation poemsn Senior Projects>

Masterworks>Senior Work n Senior Prom returns!n US graduation baby slideshows

newer traditions

n Athletic Banquetn Adult Monday Night Basketballn Black rock forest tripsn Community orchestra n Junior Workn LS 100-Day Museumn Performing Arts Series (2004)n Senior Dinnern first grade Summer Send-off

marco aurelio ‘80: Sandwiches at Zabars; hanging out on the wall at riverside Park; playing frisbee in the park.

diánna martin ‘90: riding the elevators—especially when you’re not supposed to…shooting pool during a triple free period…getting into trouble at the wall in riverside Park. oh yeah! the Senior thanks-giving skit.

rafaela malave ‘05: Egg Drop

nessim Watson ‘89: 12 Days of Christmas

natalie rose ‘99: Café Calhoun, Egg Drop, 12 Days of Christmas, Vermont ski trip, frost Valley

Laura rubenstein yurick ‘80: the Parents Association; John roeder teaching physics and play-ing piano; student government; awards at the end of the year—i forgot the name of the day, sorry. Senioritis and the Senior Party. Harvest festival started when i was there and i think is still going on.

christopher gordon ‘92: Café Calhoun and the Egg Drop…oh yeah, and taking out funny titled books from the library under a friend’s name and holding on to it forever!

Barbara Williams fullard ‘66: An award called the gilman Cup; the School Song; Calhoun was always involved in community service activities long before they became a requirement for gradu-ation; Senior Class gift [a Calhoun tradition for the families of each graduating student to leave a

legacy to the school in the form of a Senior Class gift to the Annual fund]; field Day; the school color of green is still alive and well.

mark rentschler ’00: Senior prank!…and Burger King, back in the day

Billy Zifchak ‘99: Scraping gum off the table bottoms? rushing home to flush SAfs? (heheheh) Egg Drop for sure. Spring fair. Xmas assembly and 12 Days of Xmas with Phil Bender. Middle School Boston and DC trips. i’ll second frost Valley, and the Stowe ski trip. bizz buzz bam? And Café Calhoun, which was still new when i was around. oh, and for those incoming 6th graders…ruth Licht.

Lydia newman ‘96: Pocket People; Calhoun fair the first weekend in May with the bouncy castle and the maze made from refrigerator boxes in the gym. i remember walking down to sneak a peek at the fair being set up. Also back-to-school picnics. Arts festi-val. the lifers’ photo. twelve Days of Christmas. field day. Cluster day. Number names with Phil Bender. Physics carols with John roeder.

Lessons Learned in china Lead to new Perspectives

“As an educator, i believe we need to under-

stand the world broadly and profoundly before

we teach our students,” says Maya Wang, MS

Mandarin teacher. “the more understand-

ing we gain, the more benefits our students

receive.”

With that in mind, Maya returned to her

native China for nearly four weeks this past

summer to conduct research on the Miao and

Dong minority tribes and learn more about

their education, culture and art. Accompa-

nied by a photographer who documented

the entire trip, Maya traveled to 15 villages

in the guizhou and guangxi provinces—many of which did not have running water

or electricity. She interviewed local artists,

a community of seniors, and students at Xi

Jiang Middle School. the trip, made possible

by Calhoun’s Claudia Curfman Castellana

Memorial grant for professional development,

reaped thousands of photos, hours of footage

and new knowledge for Maya to infuse into

her Mandarin-language-and-Chinese-culture

curriculum at Calhoun.

in a Middle School assembly upon her

return, Maya’s tales about her experience

with locals in the “senior village” of guizhou

Province—a town almost entirely made up of

elder citizens—made a strong impression on

students. in particular, they were astounded

to hear that it takes the elderly residents

four hours to get to the closest town to buy

a bag of salt, and an entire day to venture

to a bigger town to buy salt that’s 50 cents

cheaper. “Poverty is the main issue in that

area, and the only way for the seniors to get

to those places is to go on foot,” explained

Maya. “once the students had a better idea

of how the seniors lived, they were proud that

[my photographer and i] took the time and

effort to donate salt and noodles to those in

the village.”

At the Xi Jiang Middle School, Maya

observed the drastic difference between

that school’s approach to teaching and the

methods used at Calhoun. the Chinese

站直了。站得像树一样，站得像筷子一样

(Stand up straight. Stand up straight like a

tree. Stand up straight like a chopstick.).

“When this happened, i was speechless

and really touched,” recalls Maya. “in that

moment, i was very proud of my kids and glad

that i had made the trip.”

Maya expects to share her newfound

insights and experiences with colleagues and

students through a number of workshops,

discussions and collaborations throughout the

school year. “i appreciate that Calhoun recog-

nizes the connection between teaching and

learning and then supports the teachers in a

variety of ways for professional development.

After all, we are all learners ourselves.”

students, she notes, learn solely through

lectures and memorization, as opposed to

Calhoun’s emphasis on research, observation,

exploration and hands-on activities. “i feel a

bit sad that [the Chinese students] are under

so much pressure,” says Maya. “Students in

China are not encouraged to develop their

own creativity and individuality.”

Calhoun students had the opportunity to

watch the Chinese middle school students in

action, thanks to a video Maya presented at

the assembly. they were particularly intrigued

by the daily routines of their counterparts.

And when they observed the Xi Jiang stu-

dents perform the same warm-up routine that

they do in Mandarin classes at Calhoun, they

immediately joined in, repeating:

NEWSMAKErS

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school nEws

(top) maya interviews students and teachers at Xi Jiang middle school; (above, left) a scene from the “senior village” in guizhou; (above, right) outside Xi Jiang middle school.

joined nearly 600 other students, mostly from

schools in the lower Hudson Valley, for a series

of workshops designed for lesbian, gay, bisexual

or transgender youth and their allies. Calhoun

was one of the few private schools at the

conference, along with Little red School House

& Elisabeth irwin High School (LrEi). “it’s just

one more way our schools are linking together

around initiatives,” says Hilary.

Sophomores to Participate in Domestic Exchange

two Calhoun sophomores are participating this

year in the Network of Complementary Schools

exchange, a program that gives Upper School

students the opportunity to spend two weeks at

a partner school in the United States or Canada,

focusing on an area of interest and experiencing

a different educational culture.

morgan mitchell ‘15 (above, left) has

signed on to go to the Commonwealth-Parkville

School in Puerto rico during spring break, to

get a greater understanding of Hispanic/Puerto

rican culture. in May, emily kuper ‘15 (above,

right) will attend the Putney School in Vermont,

where she looks forward to exploring the

school’s farm/food program.

the Network of Complementary Schools has

member schools in 13 states, from Vermont to

California, as well as the school in Puerto rico

and one in ontario, Canada. Calhoun, which has

been a member of the network for more than 10

years, also welcomes students to our school—particularly those interested in our early child-

hood program, Upper School art program, and

site-based learning program that makes use of

New York as classroom.

Tiffany Poon ’14 Performs for Doctors Without Borders

tiffany Poon ’14 will

perform a special

benefit concert for

Doctors Without

Borders on March 7,

7pm, in Calhoun’s

Mary Lea Johnson

Performing Arts

Center. the concert is being hosted by Calhoun’s

Performing Arts Series.

An eleventh grader, tiffany came to New

York from Hong Kong at the age of nine and

made her European debut at the prestigious Sala

Mozart (Mozart Hall) of Accademia filarmonica

in Bologna, italy, when she was only 12 years old.

She has since played in numerous international

venues, from Australia and russia to Montreal

and across the United States—including

Carnegie Hall’s Weill recital Hall and Steinway

Hall. the young pianist won first prize and

Best Performance of Concerto Award at the

Viii Moscow international fredrick Chopin

Competition for Young Pianists in September

2012; earlier, in 2007, she won the grand Prize

and first Prize at the World Piano Competition

in Cincinnati, oH, and took first Prize at the

Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey in

2007. tiffany has the distinction of being the

youngest student ever to perform solo recitals

at the Juilliard School. (Hear/watch tiffany in

recent performances: www.youtube.com/user/

czrinasuen.)

tickets for the benefit concert are $10 for

adults, $5 for students and seniors, and may be

purchased online at www.calhoun.org/tickets.

Kiva Kids Make a Difference

Calhoun’s Middle School Kiva Club is now

ranked 45th out of the 1,000-plus school groups

involved in this person-to-person micro-lending

organization. Earlier this year, Middle School

club members made $450 in loans—all in $25

increments—to help aspiring entrepreneurs and

small organizations around the world. they also

made their most local loan yet, passing along

$200 to help get the Upper School Kiva Club

started—with many of the members who first

kicked off the Middle School club in 2009!

Calhoun Students and Faculty Speak at Innovation Conference

Calhoun students and teachers were among the

featured speakers at the “teaching innovation”

conference hosted in November by Blue School,

a progressive school in Lower Manhattan.

kadijah sutton ’13, matt ferrer ’13,

farah taslima ’13 and emma vallo ’15 talked

to a packed room about how they raise their

voices in and out of school, and noted that

there is a comfort when speaking with adults at

Calhoun that gives them the confidence to do

so. they cited groups at school like the Upper

School Queer/Straight Partnership and the

Multicultural Club, as well as a recent diversity

panel, as examples of Calhoun’s commitment to

cultivating safe places to speak out.

Math teachers Ben schwartz and

anthony yacobellis demonstrated three dif-

ferent math games they play with their respec-

tive Middle and Lower School students, all of

which are designed to decentralize authority

and promote student discovery. Says Anthony,

“our presentation was very well received, and

Ben and i both felt that participants exited our

session energized and eager to explore these

activities and related concepts with the students

in their own classrooms.”

the Calhoun contingent also attended the

conference as learners: Anthony enjoyed a

presentation on neuroscience and the develop-

ment of insight in the human brain conducted

by David rock, Blue School board member and

founder of the NeuroLeadership institute. “the

constructivist nature of our hands-on curricu-

lum was clearly supported by his research,” says

Anthony. “i [was] even more convinced that

Calhoun is engaged in best practice every single

school day.”

Calhoun Proves Itself an Ally at PrideWorks Conference

on the heels of Ally Week at Calhoun in october,

a group of six Upper School students, along with

Calhoun alum rebecca Lansbury ’12 and Director

of Diversity and Equity initiatives Hilary North,

attended the annual PrideWorks conference in

Westchester County. the Calhoun delegation

NEWSMAKErS

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WiNtEr 2013


school nEws

READ THE LATEST NEWS www.calhoun.org/newsmedia

faculty newsmakers

1 2

the calhoun chronicle

school news-3 column

Dancer in the Dark, a play adapted by ls teacher

Patrick ellsworth from the 2000 film by

lars von trier, had its German premiere at the

historic Die staatstheater stuttgart, one of the

most prestigious theaters in Germany, this past

november. although the production, which sold

out all of its shows, was not entirely true to

Patrick’s original vision (sections of his text were

removed to accommodate ballet portions), he

says, “seeing my work done in stuttgart was a

wonderful experience. the multi-branch theater

is an incredibly special place.”

Jorge Rubio, an associate teacher at little

calhoun, performed his Día de los muertos show,

originally commissioned by el museo del Barrio

(new york’s leading latino cultural institution)

for the museum’s annual celebration in late

october. an adaptation of yuyi morales’s book

Just in Case, the production is meant to “make

children feel as if they have stepped into the

book, which is a trickster tale that doubles as a

wonderful guide to the spanish alphabet,” says

Jorge. after the performance for the museum,

Jorge brought the production to 74th street for

little calhoun’s very own Day of the Dead cel-

ebration. students were engaged by the music

as well as the call-and-response nature of the

story, and they also helped Jorge’s character—señor calavera (mr. skeleton)—hunt down items

that each began with a different letter of the

alphabet.

us art teacher chris Garcia may not have

known a single native phrase heading into his

summer artist residency in armenia last summer,

but in no way did that prevent him from immers-

ing himself in his new community’s life. chris

explains in “sculpting in yerevan,” an article he

penned for Ceramics Technical magazine this

fall, that although language can be a challenge,

sometimes a common tongue can be superflu-

ous. “i always feel as if i am simply scratching

the surface of what makes a place special. Dur-

ing my stay in yerevan, i interacted with several

people who helped me understand armenian

culture, religion and politics a bit better.”

ms science teacher Joan Gillman has been

awarded a grant by cornell university’s east asia

Program to implement a new science unit this

year focused on the tsunami that devastated

Japan in 2011. Joan, who attended a workshop

called “water: symbolism and sustainability”

at the international summer studies institute

(issi) at cornell last summer, applied for the issi

grant to assist the development of curriculum

on the topic of water as it relates to southeast

asia, africa, south asia or east asia. although

she didn’t receive an official 2012 issi curriculum

grant, which actually was geared toward the high

school level, the jury for the east asia Program

was so impressed that they awarded Joan a

separate grant!

ms theater teacher Jono hustis appeared this

past fall in the cast of Found,

a new musical that ran as

a pre-Broadway workshop

at the Berkshire theatre

Group’s colonial theatre

in Pittsfield, ma. Jono and

other members of the story Pirates, the new

york—based comedy troupe, helped bring to life

the musical, which was based on Davy rothbart’s

popular Found magazine. “it was an amazing

experience,” says Jono. “Building a musical from

the ground up is great, but doing it with your

best friends is transcendent!”

alien assignment, a free iPhone and iPad app

created for children by calhoun kindergarten

teacher craig schatten, has been piling up

the accolades since its release last summer. the

game, which craig made expressly for the fred

rogers center (yes, that mr. rogers!), promotes

problem solving, creative thinking and family

fun as children help the lovable Gloop family

fix their crashed spaceship. USA Today named

it their “app of the Day” in august, while cBs

news new york tapped it for their “Best apps

for kids” list, which also included the sequel to

global-smash angry Birds. Pretty good company

to be in! Download alien assignment for free in

the itunes app store, and then be sure to leave a

comment after rating it!

school news

school news-3 column

ls teacher Patrick ellsworth (inset) and a scene from his play Dancer in the Dark, performed last november in stuttgart, Germany.

Jorge Rubio, ls assistant teacher, in a Día de los muertos performance.

in the spotlight

WiNtEr 2013


in the days that followed Sandy’s devasting

pummeling of our city, the foremost thought

on the minds of most Calhounders was “How

can we help?” But with school closed, our email

down, and many of our community without

power and cell phones, it was—at the very

least—a frustrating time for an organized call to

action. instead, through our website, twitter and

facebook, we tried to stay in touch and galvanize

the troops. By the time school resumed, a core

group of parents, faculty, staff and students were

already knee-deep in plans for a first response.

“Everyone wanted to act quickly,” recalls

Debbie Aronson, Director of Community Service,

who helped coordinate and anchor Calhoun’s

relief activities.

the first call to action was for Calhoun’s

Day of giving, held on November 12. there was

an outpouring of generosity to the blood and

coat drives. And the decision to redirect our

annual Penny Harvest donations to Sandy relief

encouraged even the youngest to dig deeply

into their own pockets. Calhoun’s annual food

drive, already in place to support our local food

pantry, took on added significance; the pantry

had begun serving displaced persons from

the storm, but shelves were emptying, with so

many of its usual donors refocused on the city’s

hardest-hit areas.

once the Day of giving had concluded, it

became clear that Sandy relief was, indeed,

going to be a long haul. “We knew we had to

search for meaningful ways for our students

and the entire school community to respond to

the ongoing needs of our fellow New Yorkers in

a sustainable fashion,” says Debbie. And while

the Holiday toy Drive became the Hurricane

toy Drive, and hundreds of parents, faculty and

students found ways to continue donating and

offering on-site support on their own, the search

was on to look for a school or schools, badly hit

by the storm, with whom Calhoun could partner.

School-to-School PartneringNow, thanks to a Calhoun parent, Common Cents

Penny Harvest, and the coordinating efforts of

Debbie Aronson, Calhoun is partnering with two

New York City schools that were devastated by

the hurricane. PS 47Q in Broad Channel and

the Pennsylvania Academy Charter School in

far rockaway will be receiving money from

Calhoun’s Penny Harvest fundraising and will be

engaging in student-to-student activities.

“Both schools are excited to partner with us

and will be receiving the money from our Penny

Harvest to use for extracurricular activities they

can no longer afford,” says Debbie. in addition to

the financial support, she says that students will

be learning about the challenges these commu-

nities face and discussing other ways to reach

out. the partnership was formally launched

in early January, when “cluster families” of

cross-divisional students got together to create

friendship bracelets, murals and quilts for their

new friends. Debbie hopes that some of our

students will be able to have exchange visits in

the future, and find new ways to reconnect and

offer support.

Special thanks to all the volunteers who

helped and continue to help support Calhoun’s

efforts—especially the members of Calhoun

Community Action (CCA), a committee of the

Parents Association; the MS and US Community

Action classes, and the US Key Club.

for updates on Calhoun’s efforts for Sandy

relief, see www.calhoun.org/sandyrelief.

1. fifth graders abby geissler and Josca Zahn sold their homemade a&J spa products at the Parents associations Holiday craft fair to raise funds for sandy relief.

2. it was an all-school effort to collect funds for sandy relief through our annual common cents Penny Harvest. sixth grader Jesse fields is shown here at the Penny Harvest dropbox she helped design to encourage people to give. donations will go to our two partner public schools to help fund their after-school programs.

3. calhoun’s annual toy drive benefited Hurricane Holiday toy drive, an organi-

zation that provided holiday gifts to children in the far rockaways. the red cross guided the efforts to find families that needed the most help. calhoun collected bags filled to the brim with donations, wrapped by our students.

4. on the day of giving at calhoun, more than 74 pints of blood were donated—the highest we’ve ever collected! in fact, there were people waiting in line for more than an hour, even with five tables set up. an extraordinary number of students stepped up to give, as well as staffers, parents, alums, parents of alums and a large number of neighborly walk-ins.

calhoun responds to Hurricane sandy

1

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caLHoun onstage-sPread-6 coLumn

school nEws

onstage

1. consumed by the Little Shop’s hungry plant were (top left, clockwise): Jason alejo ’14, shoshana Baraschi-ehrlich ’14, emma newman ’14, Jana gharzeddine ’13, martin Parian ’13, and clio sherman ’13; the chorus moved from horror to glee (from left, front): farah taslima ’13, carlotta kane ’14,

emily kuper ’15 and kyler murria-castro ’16; Jana gharzeddine ’13 as mrs. mushnik with martian Parian ’13, playing seymour krelborn; emma newman ’14 as the sadistic dentist.

2. Annie players, from 2nd-4th grades, included: (from left, clockwise) sophie Held ’22 and Hope coven ’23; socknamai kane ’22 and charlie gary ’22; Julia Labush ’21, Paloma chapman ’22 and maya cook ‘22

1 . UPPEr SCHooL tHEAtEr: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

2. LoWEr SCHooL SPECiAL CoUrSE: ANNIE

3. Eighth grade thespians presented a powerful perfor-mance of Anne Frank & Me. (top insert): Allie Leavitt ’17 and Tomás Butelman ’17; (far left) Gabby Chapman ’17, Allie Leavitt ’17, Clare Jasper ’17 and Elizabeth Brewer ’17; (right) Flory Joseph ’17, Olivia Abrams ’17, Zak Wegweiser ’17 and Gabby Chapman ’17.

4. Middle and Upper School students joined together for a splendid holiday concert; (insert) Danny Perez ’15, on violin.

5. Lower School students performed a variety of holiday songs at the Winter Assembly, attended by family and friends.

1 5

winter 2013

CALhOUn OnSTAGE-SPrEAD-6 COLUMn

school news

3. 8tH GrADe tHeAter: ANNE FRANK & ME

4. HoliDAy orcHestrA concert

5. ls winter AsseMBly

1 6



school nEws

it was a perfect postseason for the Calhoun girls’

Varsity and JV Volleyball teams; both squads

stormed through the NYCAL tournament to

capture the league’s championship titles!

After rolling over No. 2 Columbia Prep 3–0 in

the semifinals, the third-seeded Varsity Cougars

advanced to the title game against regular-

season champion trevor Day. riding a wave of

momentum and spurred on by a large crowd of

boisterous supporters, Calhoun blitzed its top-

seeded opponent from the get-go and domi-

nated the Dragons throughout to a 3–0 victory

that earned them the tourney crown.

it was a total team effort, with captain tiareh

Cruz ‘13, Amani orr ’13, Carner round ’13, taj

Cutting ’14, Maddy gordon ’14, rebecca Snow ’14,

taylor gerard ’15, Natalie Zukerman ’15, Hilda

ruiz ’16, isabelle thomson ’16, rose gruber ’16,

and Nicole Carey ’18 all playing vital roles in

bringing the NYCAL championship home. the

Cougars finished the league season 13–5, and

are already eyeing a repeat in 2013.

“i’m able to judge the success of our season

not just by victories on the scoreboard, but by the

growth and development of the team and each

individual,” says coach Sabrina Spiegel ’06. “the

girls demonstrated their tenacity and dedication

to excellence down the home stretch, and, led by

tiareh, they grew and improved tremendously.”

Sabrina adds that teammates Maddy and taj

“proved to be a solid, reliable offensive force,”

and, supported by three starting freshmen and

up-and-coming seventh grader Nicole Carey, the

girls are in a great position to dominate again

next season.

only one day after their Varsity counterparts

spiked trevor Day in the finals, the JV team

penned a fantastic finish to its

own story. the Cougars com-

pleted a combined 10–0 sweep

of the NYCAL tournament for

Calhoun by besting trevor Day

2–0 in the finals after beating

Loyola by the same tally in the

semifinals. “A 10–0 sweep in

tournament play is reflective of

the commitment and dedica-

tion the girls put into improv-

ing, learning and growing as

athletes, teammates and young

women,” says Sabrina.

in the first game of the

finals, Calhoun’s JV squad jumped out to several

big leads, but the Dragons kept creeping back.

Up one late in the game, with trevor threaten-

ing to steal the momentum, Emma griffith ‘17

made perhaps the play of the match. the eighth

grader hustled hard into her own bench to save

a ball, allowing Calhoun to win the point and,

eventually, the game.

With Sabrina and assistant coach Kevin

randazzo at the helm, the JV Cougars finished

the season 10–5. “they were determined to

win, and spent countless hours in the gym and

even at camp over the summer,” says Kevin.

“But, more important, they were willing to fail

and make use of the situations where they did.

Without that second piece, there would have

been no growth, and consequently no banner to

hang in the gym.”

1. girls’ varsity volleyball players show off their gold after storming past trevor day for the nycaL tournament championship title.

2. girls’ Jv volleyball members, in a huddle, swept through the tournament games, claiming the second championship banner for the cougars.

3. cougars named goalie noelle clark ’14 their mvP of the soccer season.

4. Jack Javer ’15 fights for possession of the ball in a game against columbia Prep.

5. Jason kauppila ’18, having moved up from the middle school to the varsity team, finished in the top 10 in four of five 3.1-mile races.

SPortS

tWin Wins!

girls’ varsity and Jv volleyball teams Win tournament championships

1

2

Sports BriefsCoach Alyssa Viglietto reports that the girls’

ms volleyball team put together a great

season. the Cougars created their own goals

in 2012, such as working together and getting

to know teammates better, and improved with

every practice. “Some of our matches were real

nail-biters,” says Alyssa. “i’m proud of the prog-

ress they made and am glad to hear some of the

girls will play club volleyball or attend camps and

clinics in the offseason.”

Although the Boys’ varsity soccer team

recorded only one victory in the fall, coach fran-

cesco filiaci notes, “it was an important growing

year for the team. overall, the level of play

jumped significantly from training in mid-August

to our win against Browning and strong showings

against trevor Day and Columbia.” He continues,

“the core of this team lies within the talented

sophomore class. We also have some key players

in the current junior class who will lead a power-

ful team next season. Ed Watkins was the only

senior to play this 2012 season. Next year, the

program will have much sharper teeth, greater

wisdom and a stronger ability to win.”

for the girls’ varsity soccer team, the fall

was a season of both development and fun. “As

2012 progressed, the team bonded over practice,

bus rides, cupcakes, ‘the Winner’s Creed,’ the

antics of Cheyenne rosado ‘16 and Emma New-

man ‘14, and our various highlight moments,”

says coach Brittany Leerkamp. Some of the

highlights included goals by rebecca Marcus ‘14,

1 7

WiNtEr 2013


Leila Jacobson ’14 and tania Calle ‘16, and a

header goal by Emma. After a season of amaz-

ing saves in goal, the Cougars elected Noelle

Clark ‘14 their MVP. “While 2012 was great, 2013

looks even more promising,” says Brittany. “But

as we move forward we will miss our senior

captains, Emily Kraft ’13 and Clio Sherman ’13.

We wish them luck on all their future endeavors

in college!”

Matthew Vidmar, coach of the co-ed ms

soccer team, called 2012 a “season full of

improvement.” five different goalies got to see

action and the defense gained valuable experi-

ence. He adds, “Next season we’d like to build

on this foundation and get some more goals in

the net!”

Youth and Experience Benefit Cross Country Program

it was an autumn of constant progress for mem-

bers of the varsity and middle school cross

country teams, who began training together as

one unit before the season began.

Jason Kauppila ’18 kicked off the fall by win-

ning the first two middle school races (1.5 miles).

He was promptly moved up to the Varsity level,

where, coach Hernán ortiz says, “he truly found

his stride.” Jason finished in the top 10 in four of

his five 3.1-mile races, and improved his time by

two minutes in the span of a month. He also led

the way at the NYCAL Boys’ Varsity Champion-

ship race by placing 15th of 56 with a time of

20.00.66.

Another MS student, Michaela Harvey ’17,

paced the Cougars at the NYCAL girls’ Varsity

Championship by clocking in at 25.44.00 to

finish 16th. Sophomore Morgan Mitchell was also

consistently strong, finishing most of the girls’

races in the top 10.

iziah Mohamed ’13 improved markedly as

the season progressed; he slashed his personal

best by more than six minutes by season’s end.

James Basuk ’13 was the best finisher on the

team (“an outstanding final kick!” notes Hernán),

and Elijah Cabrera ’15, who was new to the sport,

ended the season as Calhoun’s second strongest

runner.

school nEws

53 4

CAlhoun to ADD jV boyS’ SoCCeR In 2013

david Bartolacci, director of athletics at

calhoun, has announced that the school will

field its first-ever Boys’ Jv soccer team in

the fall of 2013. the addition of the team is in

answer to the surging popularity of the sport;

close to 30 boys tried out for the varsity team

in 2012. “Having a Jv team for any sport

is incredibly helpful in terms of building and

developing the overall program,” notes david,

“not to mention that it provides even more

opportunities for our students to experience

interscholastic athletics.” the next goal for

calhoun, he says, will be to create an official

middle school girls’ soccer team (the ms

team is currently co-ed), and then an upper

school girls’ Jv team.

1 8

PRIVATE SCHOOL

with a

publicpurpose:

calhounraises its

voice Steve Nelson: our Public Mission

Leaders of Public initiatives Speak out

Partnerships

Public initiatives

raise Your Voice! Spotlight on Curriculum

1919

2222

242427272828

1 9

What does it mean to be a “private school with a public purpose”? is that calhoun’s mission?

A private progressive school, by

definition, has to be an institution with

a public purpose.* if you go back to

Dewey’s idea of “school and society,”

or the many people who wrote and

talked about infusing education with

democratic ideals or engaging in the

work of having kids become good

citizens, all of that is about having a

public purpose. if there’s anything that

distinguishes Calhoun, i think it’s that

we’re more explicit and comprehen-

sive about it. our School & Society

program is designed to engage kids in

thinking about what’s going on in the

world around them and to be agents in

some way. they might be small agents

doing small things when they’re little

kids, or significant agents of change as

they move through and out of Calhoun.

Social justice is, i think, at the center of

what we would hope our kids to work

toward. But how to achieve social justice

is extraordinarily complex…so we want

our kids to think critically about things.

Being a good citizen means considering

many points of view, being skeptical and

self-critical.

How do you build the critical- thinking skills needed to be a responsible citizen?

the real magic is to fashion a curriculum

that capitalizes on kids’ curiosity, that

uses the real things that are going on in

the world around us. they end up with

the same or arguably better traditional

skills, but they’ve been brought to that

point through a really progressive

approach, where the skill sets are the

byproduct of a great education. And

that’s not easy to do. it takes a lot of

intention, it takes a lot of planning, it

takes really skillful teachers. the best

curriculum in the school may look like

discovery, but it’s designed to evoke

what we want to develop in kids; it’s not

accidental.

whyCalhoun’s mission to be a

“private school with public

purpose” is our responsibility

as a progressive institution,

what we hope from our

students, and where the

school is going in the

next five years.

let’s start withInstitutional Responsibility IntervIew wIth steve neLson Head of School

* The language “private school with a public purpose” is included in Calhoun’s 2011—2016 Strategic Plan, adopted by the Calhoun Board of Trustees in May 2012.

2 0

are we doing all we can do? What would you like to see happen in the next few years?

i think we’ve made a great step forward

in the Upper School by instituting a

block schedule that gives us a time

framework in which to do the kinds of

things that we know produce critical-

thinking skills and allow kids to explore

and discover. But there’s even more that

could be done. for example, we might

have a class do only one project during

an entire [five-to-six-week] mod that

could include traveling somewhere to

engage in public work. And they would

be able to do that without interrupting

their march toward graduation.

How are you exploring these possible changes in our curriculum?

i have three task forces, each comprised

of teachers and administrators who

are looking at three very intentional

ways of recrafting the school’s program

from Lower School all the way to Upper

School. one task force is looking at how

we can have a sequence or ladder of

experiential and expeditionary experi-

ences that build one on another toward

some culminating experience in high

school. this means everything from

camping out at Black rock forest when

you’re a little kid to potentially spending

an entire mod whitewater-rafting on the

Colorado river and learning geology and

reading poetry under the stars.

A second group is concentrating on

the intersection of history, culture and

language, and crafting a set of experi-

ences for kids that will culminate in a

rich awareness of some other place in

the world. As an example, Maya Wang

[Middle School Mandarin teacher] took

a trip to China this past summer on

a Calhoun grant (see page 10). it was,

quite intentionally, not a trip to Beijing to

stay at an international hotel and learn

about the great sites that tourists see,

but to go to a rural province in China

and begin developing a relationship—and this is just a hypothetical—that

might lead to our kids spending several

weeks in a rural province in China at the

end of eighth grade. that experience

would build to an even more expansive

experience before the students left high

school.

We’re exploring a similar track in Span-

ish, for which we might set up a partner-

ship with a school in Latin America that

has a rich program in environmental

studies. our kids would be learning the

history, language and culture of another

part of the world while immersing them-

selves in it.

these experiences would be the

culmination of choices that begin in

kindergarten, with what books they

are presented, what the social studies

curriculum includes. it wouldn’t be to

the exclusion of everything else, but the

goal is to make these very intentional,

layered and unforgettable experiences

for kids.

the third through-line that people are

working on is one that revisits the long-

standing progressive notion of hand-

work and handcraft. We have a good

shop program that introduces our kids

to working with their hands. But i think

we’ve just scratched the surface of what

we can do. i’d like our kids to have these

experiences beginning at a younger age

and continuing through high school,

where, along with everything else that

they’re doing, they’re actually learning

to build things, they’re learning how the

physical universe works. the reality is,

technology may make things easier, but

basically it’s still about people making

things with their hands. And there’s

immense cognitive value in kids knowing

how to do that.

Expeditionary learning becomes even

more interesting when you build your

own kayak. rebuilding a village means

more if you’ve been developing car-

pentry skills from the time you were

seven years old. if you’re doing scientific

experiments in Black rock forest, how

much more meaningful is it if you’ve

actually learned to build some of the

measuring instruments as part of that

scientific experiment?

i see these three threads through our

curriculum as the next evolution as we

realize our progressive mission.

curiouscurious

how students

stay

[We’re] looking at three very intentional ways of recrafting the school’s program, from lower School all the way to Upper School.““ ””

2 1

How do these proposed curricular programs relate to our public purpose?

Each one of these threads can be

imbued with that mission. take again

that very hypothetical relationship

with the school in the rural Chinese

province. An immersion experience

would acquaint our kids with aspects of

the world around them that they just

wouldn’t see otherwise. the expedition-

ary learning could be something like

what happened after Katrina, when

groups of students from around the

country went to help rebuild homes and

learned the reality of what made some

neighborhoods in New orleans more

vulnerable to floodwaters than others.

god knows we saw that right here in

New York.

you’ve introduced during your tenure a number of programs that are not student-based. do you consider these a part of our public mission?

first, let me differentiate between two

things. one is the part of our mission

that directly affects our students–

meaning, what our educational inten-

tions are for them, in and outside of

the curriculum. So School & Society’s

Raise Your Voice, all of the thematic

approaches we’ve taken to social jus-

tice over the years, the way in which we

use real issues of the world as fodder

in the curriculum—all of those directly

affect kids.

We have a separate part of our mission

that is our responsibility as an institu-

tion. it can’t be entirely separated from

the education but does exist, to a certain

extent, independently of the education.

What are some of our institutional initiatives?

the Deconstructing racism project is

an institutional effort to be agents for

change in society, but we also expect it

to engage our kids in a variety of ways

as the project goes forward. to a certain

extent, our school will be one of the

beneficiaries of the work we do, just as

other schools will be.

the Eat right Now program is a way of

introducing our kids to nutritious food

and healthy eating. Chefs go into class-

rooms, and Chef Bobo teaches an Upper

School course, the Politics of food. But

as an institution, we’re also training

chefs who are going out and starting

food service programs like ours at other

schools.

critical thinkerscritical thinkers

how studentsbecome PEL (Progressive Education Laboratory)

was created to stimulate the develop-

ment of teachers who will use progres-

sive methodology as they go on in their

careers. it will benefit the schools where

those teachers eventually teach, and it

also benefits us when the fellows are in

our classrooms. We may end up hiring

some of those teachers ourselves.

A lot of these are hybrid programs, but

the point i want to make is that it is part

of our mission, which is independent of

the effect it has on our kids, and it is our

role as an institution to be an agent for

change in our own society.

What kind of people do you hope our students will become?

the longer i’ve been here, the less

complicated that issue becomes to me.

i don’t mean to suggest that curriculum

is unimportant or that specific skills

don’t matter, because clearly they

do on one level. But if our kids come

out of their Calhoun experience with

their natural curiosity intact, with their

innate capacity for empathy having

been sharpened…And by empathy, i

don’t mean sympathy. So many people

conflate the meaning of those two

words. Sympathy is analogous to

charity, empathy is justice. Empathy

doesn’t just mean feeling someone

else’s pain; empathy means you have

a growing capacity to see something

through another perspective. A partner

of empathy is what is, in education-

speak, critical-thinking skills…that is

empathy. if we do all of those things,

the rest of it takes care of itself. n

If our kids come out of their Calhoun experience with their natural curiosity intact, with their innate capacity for empathy sharpened…the rest takes care of itself.““ ””

2 2

leaders

behind Calhoun’s public purpose initiatives

talk about what they do and how their

activities encourage our students to become

compassionate citizens and leaders in

a global society.

Our commitment to

reflect society, to be more

diverse, creates extra challenges for

our school. other schools may say that

very thing, but their expectation will be,

“Diversity is great, but once you’re in

our school, we have a pretty clear idea

of how we expect you to behave and

comport yourself.“ We’re really trying

to say, “Be who you are in our school,

which may challenge us to change what

we’re doing so you are being embraced,

validated, respected and seen as a full

member of our community.” So we’ve

been encouraging the formation of

affinity groups for parents, students and

staff, as the interest arises. We’ve also

been looking carefully at our admissions

and hiring outreach, finding ways to

diversify the pool of families and educa-

tors we attract, in order to better reflect

the population outside of the school.

Programmatically, our curriculum is

much more than teaching tolerance or

acceptance. We are trying to effectively

and authentically prepare our students

to be active participants in the world.

We want our students to feel that they

can engage in the pursuit of equity and

justice, and we want them to be aware of

difference and oppression.

A lot of schools create a bubble in which

the students are being educated, maybe

not ever encouraging them to tackle

something that might be controversial

or edgy, uncomfortable or problem-

atic. We don’t believe that’s the most

effective way to prepare our students

for the next step—which is to be out in

the larger society, where a lot of these

issues are at play. By bringing these

challenges to the school community,

right in front of the kids, right in front of

the teachers, we’re basically preparing

them and giving them the tools to act, to

engage and to inform themselves.

let’s Talk about Social Justice HiLary nortH director of diversity & equity Initiatives

2 3

i want students to be critical thinkers. it’s

a big fancy word, but i’m drawn to this

idea of epistemology: Why do we know

what we know? Maybe we need to ask

some difficult questions. And in order

for us to live up to the ideal that i think

is inherent in the design of our country,

our society requires the participation of

every person in our society. So it’s our

job to get our students to learn that they

have a voice, that they have power and

agency—particularly because they’re

students in a privileged school environ-

ment—to fight for and on behalf of all

different kinds of people, even if they

don’t think of themselves as struggling

with a particular issue.

it’s an ongoing, continuous process

to be advocates, to be allies, to make

choices that will ultimately get us to a

place where, maybe, we can be a soci-

ety where oppression is not the norm.

Yes, i think there’s an active role we’re

hoping our students can take, and we

try to create opportunities for them to

do that while they’re students here, so

that it’s a natural progression for them

as they move on to the next phase of

their lives. n

How the arts Serve the Greater Community david aLPert director of Performing arts and the Performing arts Series; Calhoun’s deconstructing Racism Project director

The arts are an

extraordinary vehicle for building

our children’s critical-thinking skills and

sensitivities to different ways of think-

ing and being. We introduce works of

theater or music that are not standard

fare or typical repertoire, exposing them

to composers whose works are unusual,

contemporary; composers who are

unknown; composers who are of color.

We’ll often update a theater produc-

tion to focus on themes that reflect the

political or social climate, or we’ll select

a work that connects to what the stu-

dents are doing in their classrooms.

frequently, our Performing Arts

Series—which is a public initiative—supports the very learning that’s going

on in our theater or music programming.

for example, when the Upper School

presented The laramie Project, a play

about the murder of gay college student

Matthew Shepard, our Performing Arts

Series was able to underwrite a visit by

Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mom, for our

evening tALK series. to a packed house

of Calhoun parents, faculty, staff, stu-

dents, alumni and neighbors, Judy gave

a very personal plea for the hate-crime

bill she was fighting for, which soon after

was passed into legislation by Congress.

that was a very powerful experience.

We are a school within a community that

has wonderful opportunities presented

to us because we’re in one of the biggest

cities in the world, with so many artists.

As our public purpose, through educa-

tion, we could be very insular and have

our programs open exclusively to the

Calhoun community and do a few things

throughout the year and let that be

that. But as a community that believes

that the best way to educate is to look

at things beyond our walls, we need to

always serve the greater community by

inviting our neighbors to join us.

Calhoun’s new Deconstructing racism

project is an extension of this commit-

ment. Again, we could close our eyes,

close our shutters and only focus on

ourselves. But instead, we’re hoping to

transform a conversation that doesn’t

yet exist into one that is actively happen-

ing, and making that information acces-

sible to kids all over the country.

in the end, i think our community

believes strongly that Calhoun is not just

about Calhoun; it’s a holistic, supportive,

compassionate community that has a

responsibility to make a contribution far

greater than ourselves. n

2 4

Public and Private school Partners

Some of these partnerships are student-to-student; others are focused on professional development between the schools’ faculty and administration.

> Blue School

> family Life Academy Charter School (fLACS)

> freebrook Academy

> the Cambridge School of Weston, the Putney School, the Unquowa School (PEL program)

> Hyde Leadership Charter School

> University Heights High School

> SAr Academy

> Network of Complementary Schools

community PartnersMost of these collaborative partnerships support Calhoun’s community service learning program; a few are on-site learning collaborations. (This list does not include many of the charitable organizations the Calhoun community supports with fundraisers throughout the year.)

> All Angels Church

> Badlands National Park

> Black rock forest

> Central Park Conservancy

> Council House senior center

> Esplanade Senior residence

> gay Men’s Health Crisis (gMHC)

> Hamilton House

> Holy trinity Church food program

> Hope for Haitian Children foundation

> JASA Senior Center

> Jewish Home Lifecare

> Joint Schools Activities

> KiVA

> Lewa Wildlife Conservancy/Matunda project

> Mount Sinai Medical Center

> Next Step Men’s Shelter at Stephen Wise free Synagogue

> Picture the Homeless

> riverside Park fund

> StudentsforService

> West End residences

> West Side Campaign Against Hunger

In addition to the numerous schools and community organizations listed above, Calhoun maintains relationships with a number of professional organizations that support our faculty and our mission.

How about learning Through Community Service deBBie Havas aronson ‘79 director of Community Service

Community service

learning is part of our culture

here at Calhoun; the kids expect that

this is part of what they do—part of

their responsibility as a member of this

community and as a citizen of our global

society.

the community service program has

changed quite a bit in the last 10 years.

in the past, the majority of community

service projects didn’t happen within

the curriculum or the classroom. Now,

the focus is more on community service

learning, which is a deeper form of

community service. So, in addition to

the ongoing student clubs and all-school

projects like Harvest festival, we’re

offering elective courses to our Lower,

Middle and Upper School students as

part of the academic program.

one of the critical components to

community service learning is some

kind of reflection. oftentimes, kids

come to me with an idea for a project,

but they haven’t really thought about

the purpose of it. So i try to make them

understand that they have to be meeting

a need, and that they first have to find

out what, exactly, those needs are. in

community service learning classes, that

reflection can take the form of writing

in journals, or engaging in discussions

or activities to reflect on what they’re

doing. We’ll talk about objectives

and then evaluate the project: Was it

productive? Did it effect any change?

Did it raise awareness?

Some students have such incredible

experience with their community service

activities that they continue working

on them for their senior internship

projects, or when they get to college.

Some have continued to intern or work

for the organizations they came to know.

that’s what we’re really hoping for…

that participation in community service

becomes a part of who they are, and

that they continue it throughout their

lives.

Ultimately, the program is meant to

expose the students to, and help them

learn about, differences in the world,

and the responsibility we have to each

other. n

2 5

What We Mean by

School & Society JosePHine saLvador

director of School & Society

partnerspartnersstudents become

W e have a curriculum

and a program that is very

much informed by what’s going on in the

world around us. two areas that i am

very involved with—the yearly theme

and the Progressive Education tradi-

tion (PEt)—are designed to make sure

that we’re constantly looking outward.

the yearly theme is an opportunity for

our kids to explore a particular world

topic through the curriculum, and the

programming and outreach is purposely

inclusive of our parents, grandparents,

alumni and friends of Calhoun.

the PEt class, open to our adult com-

munity and Upper Schoolers, is an

opportunity to understand the roots and

pedagogy of progressive education. But

its end goal is to educate and empower

community members to advocate for

progressive education.

there are other ways that we are reach-

ing beyond our walls. We’re establishing

collaborative partnerships with other

schools—public and independent. right

now we’re entering our second year of a

curriculum connection with family Life

Academy Charter School. it’s a middle

school program; the students meet in

the spring of sixth grade and participate

in a school-to-school sharing about

health and nutrition in the seventh

grade. the exact projects are deter-

mined by the students and teachers—another example of students co-con-

structing learning alongside teachers.

We’re also working with freebrook Acad-

emy, which opened this year in Brooklyn.

the freebrook teachers are participat-

ing in our PEt course, which is a great

opportunity for all of us; it affords the

freebrook faculty an additional profes-

sional development opportunity, and it

supports Calhoun because we’re learn-

ing, from the ground up, how to “live

your philosophy” as a school develops

itself. An Upper School student is also

planning to facilitate an after-school cre-

ative writing workshop for fB students.

in the last couple of years, i’ve noticed

that we’ve been getting inquiries for

visits from an increasing number of

educators—local and international—who are attracted to our clarity around

and commitment to progressive peda-

gogy for all students. When they come

to visit, i make it a priority to say that

we would like to establish a relationship.

Visiting other schools and creating an

exchange for ideas is an invaluable form

of professional development; it requires

us to be reflective of our own practice.

inevitably, it impacts our teaching and

our curriculum, which ultimately serves

our students. n

2 6

How all of This affects our Curriculum LorenZo krakoWsky

Upper School director

P ublic purpose is the

modern iteration of service learn-

ing, civics studies, citizenship and ethics.

in fact, the whole purpose of education

is to prepare kids to be good citizens,

to be leaders and to be empathic. While

academics are really important, they

have to be connected to a larger pur-

pose. otherwise, we’re not serving our

students well.

if you look at the history of progressive

education, it’s always been about having

a public purpose, about connecting peo-

ple to one another and to their cultures.

our mod schedule, with its extended

blocks of time, allows us to spend a lot

more time out in the city. i hope that our

faculty will move toward using that time

not just to explore the city and use its

resources, but to find ways to build even

more partnerships. for example, Nicole

Nemergut’s global Social Movements

class went out last fall to meet and work

with a variety of social service agencies.

in the spring, my french class is going to

start working with an agency that serves

West African immigrants in Harlem.

i want to see that kind of curricular

integration become an even greater part

of what we do. in fact, we’ve launched a

committee to explore the possibility of

a one-mod pilot program for 20 to 25

students that would be designed around

a single theme—maybe social justice,

immigration, democracy—and they

would look at that theme from multiple

P lace-based learning

is an important part of our progres-

sive approach. When we get our students

out of the school and, when we can, off

the island of Manhattan, we challenge

the lenses we New Yorkers often adopt.

there are a variety of opportunities for

place-based learning in the Upper School:

from class assignments, such as my

history class’s Asia in New York research

project, to six-week internships in the

senior year, community service, domestic

exchange programs or overnight on-site

learning explorations.

When our kids go to another place and

interact with people who are stakehold-

ers in these spaces, they’re forced to

look at things from a different vantage.

take, for example, the marine biology/

social studies trip we made with 24 kids

to Jamaica back in 2010. We spent time

here at school learning about Jamaican

politics, environment, economics and

social life. once in Jamaica, the students

had 5 a.m. outings in boats with local

fishermen, watching as they pulled up

empty nets because of overfishing and

pollution from fertilizer run-off and

unmanaged waste from resort tourism.

the students then met with leading envi-

insightfulinsightfulstudentsbecome

curricular perspectives. My hope would

be that whenever we do something like

this, it would have a huge public-

partnership/social justice aspect to it.

for an administrator and teacher,

this involvement with public purpose

grounds you much more holistically in

the community. And the more connected

you are, the more people you come in

contact with, the more people you bring

into the school, the richer the experi-

ence is going to be for our students. n

2 7

caLHoun’s PuBLic initiatives

eat right now: Calhoun’s holistic approach to

healthy eating has earned the school its position

as a pioneer and leader in the nutrition wars.

Chef Bobo, who is frequently invited to speak

about how to produce healthy school lunches,

invites visiting chefs and students to train in our

kitchen. He and our food service staff offer elec-

tives and after-school courses for our students,

and often work in classrooms on interdisciplin-

ary curriculum. Many of our sous chefs have

gone on to start similar programs in other

schools, both public and private.

green roof: Calhoun’s green roof, which

received a grant from the Edward E. ford foun-

dation, was the first eco-friendly green roof in

New York City dedicated to educational study.

opened in May 2005, the green roof is not only

a model for sustainability and energy savings,

but also for urban gardening. Hundreds of

visitors, both domestic and international, have

toured the roof and continue to visit each year.

deconstructing racism: Calhoun is in the

midst of developing a national campaign to

educate students of all ages on “Deconstruct-

ing racism.” the three-part project, including a

documentary film, companion curriculum, and

interactive website, was awarded a $243,063

grant by the W. K. Kellogg foundation of Battle

Creek, Mi. An additional $250,000 is still being

raised.

Performing arts series: Since 2004, Calhoun

has offered an exciting program featuring pro-

fessional artists in music, dance and children’s

theater, as well documentary films and lectures.

Low ticket prices ensure that families and

seniors can access quality programming in an

intimate setting.

school & society: School & Society is the philo-

sophical “umbrella” for the myriad activities

that Calhoun pursues in the areas of commu-

nity service learning, multiculturalism, social

activism and progressive education theory

and practice. the goal is to create a seamless

interconnection between the school and our

global community. School & Society initiates and

supports the school’s yearly theme, sponsors

the PEt course, hosts visiting educators and

establishes partnerships with other schools.

Progressive education traditions (Pet): this

free, six-part evening course, now in its fourth

year, aims to deepen our community’s under-

standing of the progressive education tradition.

Led by the Head of School, the class is open to

members of the Calhoun community—parents,

US students, faculty/staff, grandparents and

alums—as well as partner educators.

Progressive education Lab (PeL): funded in

part by a leadership grant from the Edward E.

ford foundation, PEL is a two-year teaching fel-

lowship that provides experience-based training

to college graduates. the multi-site program,

which began in the summer of 2012, takes

place at the four founding schools: the Calhoun

School; the Cambridge School of Weston,

Weston, MA; the Putney School in Putney, Vt;

and the Unquowa School in fairfield, Ct.

The Value of Internships and Place-Based Learning Lavern mcdonaLd

associate director, Upper School

ronmental activists, and then brought

their questions and observations to a

meeting with the minister of foreign

affairs in Kingston. He thought he was

going to talk to the kids about dance

hall music and olympic icons. instead,

the kids said, “We have some ques-

tions about how you’re managing labor;

about how you’re going to make sure

the environment will sustain life.” for

an hour and a half, these kids had that

minister tapping his knee because he

was so nervous about their questions.

And i can unequivocally say that those

kids left the experience with another

set of lenses; no longer will they go on

tropical excursions and be satisfied with

a packaged experience sold by a tourism

company; they know how to penetrate

societies like this and ask the critical

questions.

Part of what i’m doing this year is

working with teachers to conceive of

local field trips and travel seminars to

destinations off the beaten path. Art

and biology teachers will again offer the

trip to Badlands National Park in South

Dakota. And i suspect more teachers will

be crafting deeply meaningful experien-

tial opportunities, as well. Ultimately, the

goal is to find ways to help our students

understand the kinds of issues that

shape the wider world. that’s key citi-

zenship education. i think that’s largely

what drives a lot of the work i do here.

With our talented, very resourced kids,

bright eager learners…i think it’s our

charge, it’s our responsibility. n

insightfulinsightful

2 8

this

year’s theme, raise Your Voice,

is all about public purpose; it’s

about helping our students

find their voices and showing

them how standing up for what

they believe can effect change.

Here’s a peek at how the yearly

theme re-energized some annual

curricular and co-curricular

projects, and inspired new classes

and activities—from the 3’s

through twelfth grade.

LoWer scHooL/74

Discovering identity and Community By elissa Kompanek, 4’s teacher

It’s not about teaching empathy; it’s

about discovering what’s natural in every

human being.

With our preschoolers in the 3’s and 4’s,

we start building a sense of community

and a belief that our first job is to take

care of one another.

We want the children to get to know one

another and appreciate their similarities

and differences and to celebrate those.

to that end, we have many celebrations

and discussions about family customs

and traditions. through age-appro-

priate discussions about other

cultures we connect with what the

children already know and connect

with a sense of community

that goes beyond the class-

room.

Everything we do helps us to

think about other people. We create

welcome cards when the children

start the school year, and when some-

one is absent, we make a “welcome

back” card for their return. Before you

know it, the children are noticing, “He’s

not here; she must be sick,” and writing

their own welcome-back cards. this is

significant, because when a member of

your community isn’t there, it affects the

way your community operates and you

miss him/her.

our literature also reflects these sen-

sibilities. Authors like faith ringgold,

Barbara Shook Hazen, Eve Bunting,

Patricia Polacco and Shane Derolf

create characters and storylines with

whom children can identify, which then

ignite an awareness of situations the

children may not recognize in their own

lives. Books such as amazing Grace,

This year’s Penny Harvest Drive (left) began only weeks before Hurricane Sandy hit. When the school decided to direct that fundraising to Sandy relief, first grade teachers observed that many of their students started bringing in money from their own piggy banks—something they had rarely seen in years past. “There was suddenly a real, emotional connection for the Lower Schoolers to the people and places that needed help,” recalls LS teacher Amie Anderson. “It became very tangible for the children to think about where the Penny Harvest money was going.”

Little Calhoun’s popular Pocket People project (above) helps jump-start discussions and explora-tions about identity and community. After creating their pocket people, the students build homes for their dolls and write stories about who they are. The dramatic play that ensues has evolved over the years, observes LS Director Kathleen Cline-smith. “The children have taken to moving their houses together to form apartment buildings and communities; two-daddy and two-mommy families have appeared; and last year, one child had the idea that her pocket person was homeless.”

empathyempathyuncovering

2 9

Tar Beach, Global Babies, Whoever You

are and Tight Times enliven empathetic

questions and discussions. We see chil-

dren working on the ideas they arouse

in both symbolic and creative play

throughout the year. Since celebrating

gandhi’s birthday, children have invoked

questions such as “What would gandhi

do or say?”

the community grows as the children

get older. Literature helps open the

door to talking about and celebrating

the differences they encounter among

their new friends and adults. other

stories focus on collaboration, making

it clear that some things just aren’t fair

and illustrating how we need to work

together.

the literature we read to our 4’s and

kindergartners helps prepare them

for the first grade curriculum, when

they start learning about self-identity

and basic needs—shelter, clothing and

food—as well as the harder issues of

homelessness and hunger. first grad-

ers make several trips to a local food

pantry, where they help shelve the food

they’ve collected as donations. they

create communities with homemade

pocket people, who reflect their own

identities or those of imagined char-

acters. they learn that they can work

as partners with other people, in their

classroom and in the community. the

first grade social studies curriculum

is a perfect example of an integrated

curriculum that expands into commu-

nity service learning that is age- and

developmentally appropriate. n

compassioncompassiondiscovering

LoWer scHooL/81

reaching out Across generationsStepping into someone else’s shoes is

what Lower School teacher giovanni

Pucci asks his fourth graders to do each

year when they tackle what is invariably

an ambitious theater production. And

while past students have executed such

timeless tales as Romeo and Juliet and

King lear to splendid results, this current

class is charged with an entirely different

task—the fourth graders are taking the

personal memoirs of senior citizens and

weaving these tales into scripts, which

will be acted out under the lights this

spring in a full stage production.

the process isn’t new at Calhoun;

giovanni has been developing this

intergenerational theater project over

the last few years, usually culminating

in “mini-plays” performed solely for the

seniors. But this year, giovanni wanted to

take the project to the “next level.”

the key to the endeavor is the

opportunity for students to walk a mile

in the shoes of not only people of a

different generation, but those who

might not be of the same economic

background—some, in fact, who have

experienced what it’s like to be dirt poor.

“the students get a real sense of history

and make tangible connections,” says

giovanni.

So this past December, fourth graders

visited the Jewish Home and Hospital

and the Hamilton House to spend time

with the senior residents. the students

and seniors broke out into small

groups and chatted for more than an

hour, forging friendships over cookies

and juice. then, with audio recorders

rolling, the students eagerly listened

as the seniors shared seminal stories

from their lives. Now the students are

busy with their playwriting, piecing

diverse sections together into a flowing

narrative.

the project has been a success on

both ends. in past performances the

seniors have been moved to tears, and

the students have taken immense pride

in the result of their re-enactments.

“[the students] realize it’s a real

privilege to share” observes giovanni,

“and i think that goes to the way

Calhoun gives back.” n

3 0

middLe scHooL

How to Enact Changethey’re going to have to wait until 2020

to raise their voices in a presidential

election, but thanks to a humanities

program that blends political process

with independent social activism, fifth

and sixth grade students are already

standing up for what they believe.

this past fall, the students learned

how a bill becomes a law; they eagerly

listened as visitors like federal Judge

Jesse furman talked about the legal

system’s impact on those laws; and they

discussed the importance of citizenship

with some of the newest eligible voters

in the United States—Calhoun’s own

twelfth graders.

According to Middle School humanities

teacher Chelsea Stilman-Sandomir ’05,

the two-year cross-disciplinary class

is all about developing a critical eye,

forming opinions and learning how to

make intelligent decisions. “We hope

that, although they can’t vote now, they

realize they’re in a position to help their

communities and voice their opinions in

effective and positive ways,” she says.

“the overarching purpose is to make

our students more aware of the world

around them, which is a goal we have

threaded throughout the curriculum.”

fellow humanities teacher Andrew

Marsiglio notes that part of building

an effective curriculum includes using

a variety of resources, such as videos

LoWer scHooL/81

Student government: Seeds of LeadershipWith the 2012 Presidential Election

supplying inspiration and the Raise Your

Voice yearly theme acting as the cata-

lyst, one seemingly simple question—“What is government?”—proved to be

a jumping-off point for spirited debates

and the impetus for a new era of student

leadership in Calhoun’s Lower School on

81st Street.

“We started with zero assumptions and

simply asked what government does

and how it affects lives,” says LS teacher

Daniel Ercilla, who, along with Josephine

Salvador, Director of School & Society,

helped re-launch the LS student govern-

ment. “We let the kids take it from there

because we wanted them to imagine

how it would work and influence life at

Calhoun.”

the next step was for the second, third

and fourth graders to determine what

kind of government they wanted. “All the

input was from the kids,” says Daniel.

“Everyone participated, so you had

countless ideas, ranging from ‘Presi-

dent for Life,’ which we explained was

essentially a dictatorship, to anarchist

regimes. it was very interesting listening

to their thought processes.”

Eventually, the students held an election

to pick a form of government. the win-

ner was a rotating-representative style,

where different teams of students from

each grade take turns being in charge.

Now that a government is in place, the

students will be writing a constitution

and bill of rights as well as defining the

guidelines on how meetings will be run

and requests considered. Adds Daniel,

“Some kids are proposing things like

fixing the water fountain while others

want the bathroom kept tidier. of course,

there are those who oppose others at

every step of the way, but that’s all part

of the process.”

With this year’s group of motivated stu-

dents, the new government in the Lower

School promises to deliver a lasting

platform for young leaders to positively

affect life at Calhoun. “it provides a sense

of citizenry and a responsibility in know-

ing that one can be an agent of change,”

notes Daniel. n

rock the vote

Students from the seventh grade Community Action class and the Upper School Language in Action class took to Broadway on election day to get out the vote.

if i Had a Hammer

Noel Paul Stookey, a.k.a. Paul of the renowned folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, helped launch Calhoun’s yearly theme

—Raise Your Voice!

—in rousing fashion: He delighted students and faculty alike with his music, and reminded all that there are countless ways to inspire change with one’s voice.

3 1

and literature, as well as relying on

expert guests from our school and

local community. in addition to Judge

furman, the students met with tom

Siracuse, the green Party’s 2012

candidate for State Senate in the 29th

District. “Every student connects to

someone or something different,”

observes Andrew, who says that the

ultimate objective for students is

that they know how to continue their

learning on their own time and in their

own unique way.

Even before Calhoun’s yearly theme was

announced, the humanities teachers had

decided that, in a presidential election

year, it was vital to provide students with

a nonpartisan understanding of how

the U.S. government works. “Working

the theme into our curriculum through

written responses and class discussions

was easy,” says Andrew.

the year began with an assignment

that asked the students to write down

a cause or issue they felt passionate

about, why it stirred their emotions

and what they might be able to do to

advance that cause. the speech bubbles

they filled out were eventually attached

to their photo portraits and posted on

the Middle School wall for all to see.

“our students thrive when they’re telling

us their opinions and sharing comments

and observations,” observes Andrew.

Asking them to ‘raise Your Voice’ in a

more structured way was exciting for

them and it was rewarding to watch how

involved they were.”

Enthusiasm was so high for the project

that it led to a “raise Your Voice!”

picture-book story, with each student

elaborating on his or her speech bubble.

irene Baigorri, in her first year of

teaching at Calhoun, says the idea was

for students to connect their personal

passions to the world around them,

to understand that “the personal is

political” and that global issues can be

traced back to our daily lives. Explains

irene, “for example, children who

love their pets can translate that into

thinking about animals on a broader

scale—animal rights or animal rights

activism. the opportunity to reflect and

talk about what they would raise their

voice about stimulated their perception

of themselves as potential agents of

change.” n

good citizensgood citizensdeveloping

middLe scHooL

Bridging Boroughs, Student to StudentA new partnership is developing

between Hyde Leadership Charter

School in the Bronx and Calhoun’s

Middle School students, thanks to a

collaboration between MS shop teacher

David Hyman and Steve ritz, dean of

students at Hyde Leadership.

this past December, Calhoun seventh

graders visited Hyde Leadership, where they donated books to help

build a permanent reading space for

kindergarteners. the Calhoun kids

spent time with the young students,

reading to them and telling jokes.

After their stop at Hyde Leadership, the

seventh graders continued on to the

Hunts Point Alliance for Children in the

Bronx to deliver 11 miniature handcrafted

Adirondack chairs they’d made the

previous year in woodshop class. the

preschoolers who will be using the

chairs immediately took to the gifts and,

with great enthusiasm, showed Calhoun

students the ropes of their play space.

“Every seventh grader i spoke with was

so thrilled to be able to connect with the

students at Hyde, they’ve asked when

they can go again,” says David. “the

Hyde students as well as the children at

the Hunts Point Alliance were grateful

for the donations, but far more excited

for the attention and connections

made. this was a great beginning for

everyone.”

3 2

middLe scHooL

tackling the History of injusticefor the 16 eighth graders involved, the

Middle School theater production of

anne frank & Me was a natural extension

of their curricular explorations of

tolerance that began last year in English

and social studies. it also dovetailed

perfectly with Calhoun’s yearly theme,

providing the students a unique outlet

for expression.

the play follows the story of Nicole

Burns, a teenager who doubts the truth

and cares even less about the Holocaust,

but eventually comes face-to-face with

the reality in an extraordinary sequence

where she meets Anne frank on a cattle

car to Auschwitz.

“Handing over such a serious and

remarkable script was a compliment

to this group,” says director and MS

theater teacher Ed Schloth. Middle

School is a place where students are

eager to speak out against injustices

both big and small, so it should come

as no surprise that this contemporary

look at one of history’s most compelling

figures was embraced by its participants.

in the end, the thespians’ deftly executed

performances conveyed the weight

of the content, and allowed for a new

generation to raise their voices as a

reminder that past horrors should not be

forgotten. (See more photos, page 15.) n

uPPer scHooL

Advocating for food Justice and SustainabilityStudents in Chef Bobo’s elect the

Politics of food developed a keen

understanding about where their food

comes from and what they eat by

investigating the powerful influence of

the food industry, agribusiness and food

lobbyists on our nation’s diet.

During the course of the class, students

read such books as food Politics,

fast food Nation and The omnivore’s

dilemma. guest speakers included

community activist Karen Washington,

who spoke about community gardens;

Nancy Easton, executive director of

Wellness in the Schools, an expert on

the subject of school food politics; Dean

Carlson of Wyebrook farm, who talked to

the students about sustainable farming;

and community activist Harry Bubbins,

who decried the encroachment of fresh

Direct in his Bronx neighborhood. the

students also had the opportunity to eat

lunch at Northern Spy food Co., an East

Village restaurant that sources all of its

ingredients through local farms.

“the aim is for my students to have a

greater understanding of the choices

they make, but also to influence others

by advocating for change,” says Chef

Bobo, who required his students to

research a particular issue of their

choosing, contribute to a class blog, and

commit to how they could turn their

knowledge into activism.

reflectivereflectivebecoming

More recently, four high school students

from Hyde Leadership joined forces

with 13 Middle Schoolers from Calhoun

to build the stage and backdrop for

a tEDxManhattan conference. Using

donated materials, space and tech

support from Calhoun, the students

worked in integrated groups to design

the signage.

David and Steve hope the partnership

between the schools leads to a

highly replicable model of school and

community collaboration.n

3 3

Naomi van der Lande ’13, who did her

research on organic foods, was surprised

that she found herself empathizing

with some of the contributors to the

conventional [food] industry: “taking

away their factory farms would

result in immense job loss, possibly

generating an even larger political

issue,” acknowledged Naomi in her

blog. “[But] my efforts in learning

about the opposing side also proved to

me how far-off our nation is from an

all-natural food system. it should not

have to be a privilege to have access

to food that does not harm us and our

surroundings.”

Michael Luzmore ’13, who researched

the urban food revolution, screened the

film edible City for Upper Schoolers, to

advocate for the local food movement.

“Understanding and seeing a whole

economy and community that revolves

around regional farmers’ foods is

inspiring and hopeful for the future

of sustainably grown local foods,”

says Michael, who will continue his

studies in the field next year at Cornell

University’s College of Agriculture and

Life Sciences. n

uPPer scHooL

global Social Movements: Effecting Change through project- and place-based

learning, Upper School students

in Nicole Nemergut’s global Social

Movements class gained valuable insight

into the many forms of activism that

effect change around the world and in

our own backyard.

Students spent four weeks researching

the internal decision-making in the

Chipko Movement in india, the Landless

Workers’ Movement in Brazil, and

the World Social forum. to better

understand what motivates political

activists, and the inner workings of

their causes, Nicole took them to the

interference Archive in Brooklyn, where

a meeting with Cindy Milstein of the

institute for Anarchist Studies proved

to be eye-opening. During another

trip, students met with members of

the Sublevarte Colectivo, a Mexican

art collective that emerged from the

1999–2000 National Autonomous

University of Mexico student strikes.

Discussions revolved around the various

social movements in Mexico, the role of

art and images in political protest, and

the different types of protest tactics.

the results of their explorations led

to fascinating presentations to fellow

Upper Schoolers, faculty and staff. Says

Nicole, “our students discovered not

only how these movements function

politically with the outside world, but

how they structure themselves and

make decisions within.” n

facing truth with Laughter

Jordan Peele ‘97 (far left), co-star of Comedy Central’s Key & Peele, returned to Calhoun in November to talk to students about his career path and how he found his voice. Comedy, he explained, is his way to explore subject matter that is sometimes too scary to “put out there” any other way. Recalling his time at Calhoun, Jordan remembers that “[As students] we could come up with an idea and the school would get behind us, get its resources behind us and let us go for it… they helped us to find our voice.” He encour-aged the students to take advantage and grab every opportunity to do the same.

advisor to Presidents

Lester Hyman (left), onetime protégé of John F. Kennedy as well as an advisor to eight presidential candidates, came to Calhoun in early November to speak with seventh and eighth graders about the electoral process, the 2012 election and his experience in “lending his voice” to the political landscape over the course of the last 50 years.

activistsactivistsnurturing

reunion friday, May 10, 2013

Celebrating Classes Ending in “3” and “8”

All Alumnae/i Welcome!

Location: rooftop, 81st Street

Be a reunion Class Agent!Q Help plan your reunion

Q Provide updates on classmates

to volunteer, contact:

Bart Hale ’00

Director of Alumnae/i relations

[email protected]

646-666-6450

What issues will the council address?

there are many areas where the council can offer important

feedback. the various ways Calhoun connects with our alums

is one example, and the career resources and networking

opportunities the school provides is another key area to develop.

the events we hold for young alumni, the ways we engage alums

with students and our “on-the-road” gatherings beyond NYC are

transforming the program. in 2011 we introduced the 1896 Circle,

an alumnae/i giving society, and that can be further strengthened

by the council’s guidance. there are opportunities to tackle these

and many other projects on a leadership level.

How does the nomination and election process work?

the Alumnae/i Council’s nominations committee will consider

any alum who graduated from Calhoun. typically, candidates

are suggested to the committee by someone within the

alumnae/i community or they can simply nominate themselves.

in reviewing candidates, the nominations committee uses the

following six criteria: (1) previous Calhoun volunteer experience—with a particular eye toward demonstrated leadership; (2)

connectedness to other members of the alumnae/i community

and a general passion for Calhoun; (3) demonstrated ideas

for the alumnae/i relations program and vision about future

opportunities; (4) support for Calhoun’s Annual fund; (5) range

of professional occupations and talents; (6) gender and racial

diversity.

if you know someone who may be a good candidate, or if you

would like to nominate yourself, please notify the Alumnae/i

office in writing at [email protected]. Nominations must be

received by March 1 each year, and if contested, an election will be

held in conjunction with the annual spring reunion.

We remain optimistic and excited about the potential for this

new council to add greater depth to an already strong network of

alumnae/i leaders. thank you to all who support the school and

give so selflessly of yourselves for the betterment of our alma

mater.

Bart HaLe ’00Director of Alumnae/i [email protected]

3 5

WiNtEr 2013

aLum-Letter

class notEs

Alumnae/i Letterreinvigorating the Alumnae/i CouncilAs with any successful organization, Calhoun continues to thrive

due to the selfless dedication of our volunteers. in no small

part, this includes generous alums who help host events, serve

as class chairs, and return on numerous occasions to speak with

current students and fellow alums.

in response to the growing alumnae/i program and strength of

this network, Calhoun has worked over the past year to revive a

successful Alumnae/i Council leadership structure that is seen at

many other schools. Charged to lead the Alumnae/i Association,

the Alumnae/i Council’s goal is to support Calhoun’s mission as a

leader in progressive education.

the following provides some details and an overview of the

Alumnae/i Council:

What is the alumnae/i council?

the Calhoun Alumnae/i Council is an advisory board consisting

of 9-20 directors who are elected for a three-year term. their

eligibility to serve is based on their past volunteerism in support

of Calhoun, their diverse professional accomplishments and their

commitment to Calhoun’s future. the directors on the council

will represent the nearly 3,000 members of Calhoun’s Alumnae/i

Association, serving as ambassadors to the entire school

community and providing a critical alumnae/i voice. the council

helps enhance the experience of all Calhoun alums by becoming

familiar with the state of the school; providing opportunities

to discuss and share Calhoun issues relevant to the alumnae/i

community; and promoting effective communications, event

programming and other modes of engagement with alums. the

council is an advisory board, not a policy-making group; policy

decisions are made by the school’s Board of trustees, which has

ultimate responsibility for Calhoun’s mission.

Why establish an alumnae/i council?

the council will be instrumental in providing alumnae/i

perspectives at Calhoun while also helping shape decisions

about the future of our alumnae/i program. As we seek to better

respond to the needs and interests of our alumnae/i community,

the council will also help promote dialogue between alumnae/i

and students, faculty, administrators and the Board of trustees on

important issues related to the school.

3 6


aLum-cLass notes-4 coLumn

class notEs

mARRIAgeS

alex Heath ’95 to Amber Mullins

Brian Peters ’97 to Yael Leopold

Brian daniels ’98 to

Kate Stluka (2011)

Josh raeben ’01 to Sarah Boutilier

Jesus reina ’04 to

Anna Margrethe Nilsen

angela Bonilla ’06 to Jay Coolman

bIRthS

to Bobby rue ’85 and Laura real,

a boy, Alexander James

to Billy Zifchak ’99 and

Melissa rosales Zifchak, a boy,

Sawyer Kellan

to Justin Bosch ’00 and Louise

Bosch, a boy, oscar Mason

to Hilary gluck Wasicek ’02

and Andrew Wasicek,

a girl, Emma Marilyn

In memoRIAm

Pat oshrin glazer ’39

rita Bass Lubin ’43

Joan Landau gindler ’46 (May 2010)

vicki kanner Bernstein ‘44

Lilian gold schecter ’48

arlene Petroff ’57

nina Pollak Levin ’62

chelsea gable ’98

Faculty/Staff

Lil Lulkin (see page 6)

1960sBetty ann goldstein gaynor ’62

remains active as an honorary

board member of Healthy Child

Healthy World, where she was part

of the founding board. the organi-

zation empowers parents to protect

children from harmful chemicals

and provides resources and tools to

bring awareness to the issues that

are putting children’s health at risk

today. Betty is still living in Delray

Beach, fL.

nina Pollak Levin ’62 passed away

last June after suffering from

Pick’s disease, a rare neurodegen-

erative disease that affects nerve

cells in the brain—only weeks

after she had returned to visit

Calhoun and celebrate her 50th

reunion with classmates. those

who saw her then were stunned

and saddened later, when the news

was announced. Nina had a career

as a teacher and is survived by her

husband, Marvin.

Lillian kean appel ’66 had the

unique opportunity to meet

President obama last spring!

Lillian is director of major events

and programs at Barnard College,

where the president appeared

as the school’s commencement

speaker. “the entire experience

of working with the White House

staff and Secret Service was quite

fascinating,” says Lillian. in the

meeting, “i expressed how honored

we were to have him at Barnard,

and he told me how honored he

was to be able to address our

graduates. i remember thinking

that he was even more handsome

than his photos suggest, with an

absolutely dazzling smile, and that

he seemed so comfortable and

natural during what must be an

endless round of these meetings.

All in all, it was an experience i’ll

remember for the rest of my life.”

Loretta Wick Holland ’68, who

retired as a special education

teacher for autistic students after

25 years at Southern Westchester

BoCES, is now enjoying a new

winter home in Boca raton, fL,

with her husband, Arthur. She also

has more time to enjoy their four

grandchildren; their third and last

child, Nicole, was married in March

2012. Loretta passes on her “best

wishes to all my classmates!”

1970sLaurie goldrich Wolf ’71 had a book

published last July called Portland,

oregon Chef’s Table: extraordinary

Recipes from the City of Roses.

in the book, Laurie celebrates

Portland’s farm-to-table way of life

by profiling signature “at home”

recipes from more than 40 dining

establishments. She still lives in

Portland with her husband, Bruce,

who was responsible for all of the

photography for the book. Laurie

also has a blog, www.foodfiendpdx.

com.

Holly miller ’73, who lives in Shaker

Heights, oH, is chief medical

officer at MedAllies, which provides

expertise and resources to help

physicians with the application

and use of health information

technology. She is also the lead

author on a book about personal

health records, titled, Personal

Health Records: The essential

Missing element in 21st Century

Healthcare, which was published

in 2009.

Jenny sandler meyers ’78 is a

freelance illustrator, painter and

writer in New York City. She is

married to Adam Meyers, who is

a research professor at New York

University. Her son, Joshua, is a

junior in high school.

IN MEMORIAM

Chelsea Gable ’98

It is with a heavy heart that

we share the sad news that

Chelsea Gable ’98 died this

past September in a car

accident in Mount Vernon,

NY, where her family lives.

Though Chelsea only spent

two years of high school

at Calhoun, her presence

and warmth left an endur-

ing impact on Calhoun and

her classmates. Those who

shared their school days

with Chelsea remember her

big smile, genuine kind-

ness and infectious energy,

which radiated throughout

the fourth floor. She was a

member of Film Cult, Queer/

Straight Partnership and

US Band, and was the photo

editor of the yearbook.

Among the many who

attended her services

were classmates Cathy

Bertchume ’98, Katie Dreis-

bach ’98, Erol Gunduz ’98,

Maggie Mikofsky ’98, Sophia

Morel ’98, Audrey Pendleton

’98, Katya Tepelyan ’98 and

Billy Zifchak ’99.

Chelsea will be honored

this spring at Reunion

2013, where she would

have celebrated her 15th

Reunion with her class. As

best noted on a memorial

Facebook page, “Her life

was much too short for such

an extraordinary person

so full of rich, spirited life.

The world is a sadder place

without Chelsea.”

3 7

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1980smark fowler ’81 was ordained as

an interfaith/interspiritual minister

through the one Spirit interfaith

Seminary in New York in June 2012.

Mark looks forward to continuing

a life of service and exploration of

the divine, with some fun! He is still

living on Staten island, and though

he lost power for 10 days, he was

fortunate to escape any water

damage from Sandy.

Julie isaacson antupit ’82 moved

out to San Mateo, CA, from Massa-

chusetts this past summer, and

reports that the family’s transition

is going well. “our move was

prompted by my husband’s new job

here, and i was lucky enough to find

a position as the learning specialist

for the Carey School, which is

a PreK–5 independent school in

San Mateo.” their son, Benjamin,

also started at Carey in the fourth

grade. “We’re all enjoying the mild,

sunny weather in San Mateo,”

says Julie, who adds, “we’d love to

connect with other Calhoun alums

who are in the Bay Area!”

nicolas Pasanella ’82, who

received his master’s in archi-

tecture from Columbia University’s

graduate School of Architecture,

Planning and Preservation in 1993,

has been working as the director

of construction at the insight

Property group since January

2010. He is living in Alexandria, VA.

daniel Bernard ’86, a professor of

pharmacology at Mcgill University

in Montreal, led an international

team of clinicians and basic

scientists to uncover a new

genetic cause of thyroid hormone

deficiency that is more common in

males than in females. the team’s

work was recently published in

Nature Genetics.

advocating for the invisible PeoplemuSIngS by SheIlA DAISe beRnARD-lASSIteR ‘81

I want to write a quick note to congratulate and thank The Calhoun School for making me a truly dedicated member of the community in which I live.

I became a licensed practical nurse in 1989, a career that I have found tremendously fulfilling. After almost 20 years of hospital nursing and private duty nursing, I went to Hudson River HealthCare, in Poughkeepsie, NY, and after a year, was transferred to an inner-city office, where I was truly challenged to the max! I had to learn the Spanish language and a completely different vocabulary.

I found that I had a knack for communicating on all levels. I work with the underserved

community, and it has enriched my life. In my day-to-day experience, I delight in problem-solving, never approaching a situation with the belief that it is over my head. I never say, “This is impossible,” to myself. I am a Calhoun graduate; nothing is impossible.

In one particularly vivid memory, a male patient came to me on a terribly busy day in 2007. He asked me to call the health department to file a report about especially poor conditions at his shelter. I was overwhelmed and asked if he could call for himself. What he said to me truly changed my life. With tears falling, he explained, “Sheila, because of the choices I have made in my life, nobody will listen to me. That’s why God sent you here. You are the voice of the invisible people like myself.” I cried with him that day, then called the health department with him present so he would know it was done. It was such a simple request. Still, his life and his words propel me forward.

So thank you, Calhoun. I know now what I was born to do and Calhoun gave me all of those tools. I never find myself threatened by anyone’s intelligence or title. I appreciate my own ability to learn and to grow. My mother raised me to be a lady; Calhoun taught me to believe in myself and never give up. To this day, I think of the school often. I have a big school pin on the corkboard near my desk, a ceramic mug and tile, and a mouse pad that all scream “The Calhoun School.” Most important, I have the heart of a lion when it comes to my work. Thanks to Calhoun for everything you were and still are to me. As I grow, so does the Calhoun spirit inside. Congratulations and best of luck with your progressive educational goals, always!

Voices

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1990sJeff Belkin ’90 joined the team

of Zero gravity Management last

spring as a literary manager and

producer. the move came after his

five years running foremost films,

where he represented a stable

of screenwriters while providing

professional screenplay analysis and

consulting through his side venture,

foremost Writers. Among his other

work, Jeff also helped develop

projects such as Gran Torino for

Double Nickel Entertainment.

ethan maurer ’90 lives in

Huntington, Vt, with his wife,

Beth, and daughter, Hannah. He

continues working as a plan

manager in the high school

completion program at Vermont

Adult Learning, a nonprofit that

provides Vermonters with adult

education. Ethan is also on the

board of the advocacy group

Vermont Priorities, which supports

public policies in the state across

economic, cultural and political

spectrums.

dianna martin ’90 was onstage

this past fall for a performance of

Marcel Pagnol’s classic romance

Marius, which was held at the

Storm theatre Company. She

also won a Planet Connections

theatre award over the summer for

outstanding Actress in a reading

with her performance as Shawna in

Coyote on a fence.

claudia Zelevansky ’91, who has

been actively involved in the

theater world since graduating

with an MfA in directing from Yale,

has been working as an associate

at Martin Vinik Planning for the

Arts since 2011 and is attending

Columbia University’s teachers

College Program in Arts Adminis-

tration. Claudia lives in Brooklyn,

just 10 blocks from her sister,

nora ’95.

chad stoller ’88 is a managing

partner at iPg Media Lab, a

company that provides agencies

and clients with access to new

media by offering facilities, expertise

and resources tailored to rigor-

ously tested emerging media and

marketing techniques. Chad lives

with his daughter, Nova, 13, in lower

Manhattan. He says he was thrilled

to catch up with US science teacher

John roeder when he came back to

Calhoun for a visit this fall.

nessim Watson ’89 is an academic

and career advisor at greenfield

Community College in Massachu-

setts, where he works with faculty

to incorporate internships and

career development skills into

the academic programs. Nessim

earned a certificate in renewable

energy and energy efficiency, and

now works, as well, for the college’s

energy program as a consultant

in curriculum development and

marketing. He lives in western

Massachusetts with his wife, Peach

robidoux, and their daughter, Maya.

2

3

1

4

5

1. (L–r): ethan maurer ’90, ilana Plutzer Hyman ’90, stav Birnbaum ’90, Jeffrey Belkin ’90 and candace cavalier ’90 gathered in september, with children in tow, to celebrate their milestone 40th birthdays.

2. classmates gathered for the wedding of Brian Peters ’97. (L–r) richard Lin ’97, angie soto ’97, yael Leopold, Brian Peters ’97, Lafiya Watson ’97 and troy cummings ’97

3. shaniquoa elrington ‘96 in india

4. Justin Bosch ’00 and wife, Louise, pose with their baby boy, oscar mason, who was born in march 2012.

5. the Billy Zifchak ’99 kids: nina, age five, with baby brother, sawyer kellan, who was born on June 28, 2012.

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aLum-cLass notes-ProfiLe-4 coLumn

Puertorico morales ’94 is living

in Maryland and working for the

Baltimore County public school

system, where he is a behavioral

specialist.

alex Heath ’95, who married

Amber Mullins at a celebration last

June, is currently living in Brooklyn

and working as a vice president

in corporate communications at

Edelman, a global public relations

firm, where he has been since 2010.

shaniquoa elrington ’96 is the

interim director of instruction at

Lefferts gardens Charter School,

an environmental science–themed

K–3 learning environment in

Brooklyn. She also self-published a

photo book, India 2012 (available at

blurb.com), about her adventures

traveling through india earlier this

year.

molly mandlin ’96 just moved from

Brooklyn to the Bronx—“more

space and a great new sunny

room i’ve made into my studio,”

she reports. “i’m still happily with

rob, my boyfriend of more than

eight years.” She is working as an

independent writer and artist.

kevin silverman ’96 moved from

ogilvy Public relations to ruder

finn, where he assumed the

position of senior vice president of

digital influence. this past June,

Kevin married Jennifer Johnson in

a ceremony in florida.

cynthia caban ’97 caught up with

classmates at the Alumni Pub Night

this past November. She has been

working as a digital media editor

for Lordandtaylor.com since April,

having spent the prior three years

at Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy.

Back in 2006, Cynthia received

her graduate degree in fashion

marketing from Parsons the New

School for Design.

angie soto ’97 checked in to share

that she is still teaching fifth grade

in a New York City public school.

“i have also been taking the time i

have off for the summer to travel.

i volunteered in tanzania last

summer, and two years ago spent

it traveling around trinidad and

tobago.”

alex maynard ’98 moved back to

California after a brief stint in New

York and is now living in San Diego.

Billy Zifchak ’99 and his wife,

Melissa, welcomed a new baby boy

to their family this summer, Sawyer

Kellan Zifchak, who joins his older

sister, Nina, now five. Billy owns

and operates a tile restoration

franchise in Bergen County, not far

from the family home in Nanuet,

NY. While his Hello Eden band has

broken up, Billy notes, “Music is still

a strong presence in my life. i have

a friend who records with me in

an ongoing project called BMfDV;

it’s facetious punk rock. We finally

finished a recording, where i play

all the instruments and write the

lyrics. the second record will be

more ambitious and may include

some Hello Eden members.”

2000sandrea cortes-Juarbe ’01 is living

in San francisco, where she teaches

dance to children in after-school

programs and recreation centers,

including the Harvey Milk Center

for the Arts. She’s also been doing

video production and editing for

the San francisco recreation and

Park Department, and recently,

began volunteering at Sf general

Hospital as a doula, noting, “i have

helped seven women give birth!”

Andrea is in the process of applying

to graduate school to pursue

a degree in dance/movement

therapy.

6suPPort caLHoun’s 2012—2013

A n n uA l F u n d

SIx REASONS WHY ALUMNI PARTICIPATION

MATTERS1.

testimoniaL to caLHoun: Your gift signals to others that Calhoun is valued

by its graduates.

2.comPetitive sPirit:

Calhounders are proud! Help us compete with the higher alumni giving levels at our peer schools!

3.aPPreciation for our teacHers:

Giving helps bring salaries to competitive levels, and shows our talented faculty how much they are valued—esp. by attaching a teacher tribute.

4.eXPanding financiaL aid:

Annual Fund dollars help support and promote a fully diverse community at Calhoun.

5.groWtH of aLumni Programming:

Your giving ensures even more resources for alumni programs, including reunions, career

symposiums and Calhoun-on-the-Road.

6.staBiLity for caLHoun’s future:

As part of Calhoun’s 100+ year history, your lifelong connection guarantees a quality

education for future generations.

Make your 2012—2013 Alumni Annual Fund gift today, and help us grow our participation rate!

www.calhoun.org/alumgiving Sonia Bonsu ’95: 212-497-6579

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eliminating WallsmuSIngS by gReg gooDmAn ‘98

Calhoun taught me that my life can be whatever I want it to be. Today, that means following my dream of being a self-employed digital photographic artist and storyteller in Thailand.

I’ve always loved the idea of being a businessman. As a little kid, I sold Garbage Pail Kids to my grandparents during Sunday dinners. In elementary school, I ran a baseball card and comic shop during free time. By high school, I dreamed of becoming a Hollywood CEO, though my real passion lay in computers and making web pages.

June Idzal’s class intro-duced me to web design at Calhoun in 1996, and I soon realized the Internet was our generation’s brave new world. Where else could a high school student have the chance to run an interna-tional business while explor-ing his creative, artistic and detail-oriented sides?

Throughout college, I continued to create websites for fun and for pay. However, that never changed my desire to have a corporate desk job. So, I got one, complete with clients, deadlines, business cards and responsibilities. I was finally a businessman, and life was perfect!

So why was I so unsatis-fied? When I look back, it’s clear. My love for business stemmed from a childhood of being my own boss, not from trying to make a buck for someone else. Instead of being enthralled by my work, I spent my days dreaming of far-off places and teaching myself photography.

After three years of corporate American life, I took a leap of faith, quit my job, sold my stuff and joined my wife, Carrie, who

was serving in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua. My plan was to visit for two weeks; I stayed for seven months.

A handful of jobs and a few hundred thousand miles of travel later, I have redefined my definition of being a businessman. Exploring our world, sharing my experiences and inspiring others are my true passions. Along the way, I chronicle every step of the journey on AdventuresofaGoodMan.com, an online magazine of my life.

While creating, marketing and managing the site, I have found a new confidence in myself and in my capabilities. Most recently, I was invited to Germany to present my work as a travel photog-rapher and storyteller at Photokina, the world’s largest photo trade

fair. One of my favor-ite moments from that presentation was when I told the audience, “I firmly believe that if you follow your dream and do what you’re passionate about, opportunities will present themselves.”

That’s why Carrie and I are currently living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We spend our days working on our passions and see-ing where they lead. For me, that involves being a digital photographic art-ist, managing a freelance online marketing business, working on ideas for new websites, and developing the Symmetry Project, a photographic exploration

of how our lives are mirrored around the world. I have no idea what’s next or how it will turn out, but I’m enjoy-

ing every day of my life! Plus, I still get to be a businessman; I just had to take a lesson from Calhoun and eliminate the walls first.

Voices

My plan was to visit for two weeks; I stayed for seven months.

greg goodman ’98 gets into an acra yoga position on the shores of the ganges river in rishikesh, india, with his wife, carrie.

4 1

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working on her graduate degree at

Bank Street College of Education.

Jenna fortunato ’06 transitioned

from Washington, DC, to San

francisco last winter, where she’s

now working in media production

as an event coordinator for Bay,

inc., a promotional advertising and

marketing firm.

sophie Harris ’06 has been keeping

busy as a freelance fashion and

documentary photographer, but

she caught up with many class-

mates at Calhoun’s annual Alumni

Pub Night just before thanksgiving.

angie Bonilla ’06 lives in Portland,

or, with her husband, Jay

Coolman, whom she wed in March

2012. the couple paid a visit to

Calhoun and reconnected with

classmates at Alumni Pub Night

when they came back east for

thanksgiving. “i’m still working

on my BA at Portland State

University,” notes Angie. “i am

ready to graduate, work in early

childhood and help families better

prepare their children for school.”

alex checkman ’06 is doing well in

the teaching field, where she is now

an assistant teacher at the Horace

Mann School in New York while also

water disaster preparedness in New

York City.

michelle schindler Williams ’03

is working as a designer at the

Disney-ABC television group and

also maintains a blog, Coffee &

Champagne, about her everyday

adventures and experiences. in

September 2011, she married her

high school sweetheart, franklin

Williams, at the Central Park

Boathouse. Classmate alex sanchez

’03 served as one of her brides-

maids. (coffeeandchampagne.com)

emily deutchman ’04, a talent

analyst by day at the talent

Business, had a solo exhibition of

her artwork Presidents with Boob

faces at the Living gallery in

Bushwick, in November. Classmates

rosanna volchok ’04, Blake Brie ’04,

stacey anderson ’04 and maddy

thaler ’03 all attended the exhibit.

Subsequent reviews and interviews

with Emily appeared in numerous

online magazines, and in New York

magazine’s “Approval Matrix” (Dec.

31, 2012). Check out her project at

www.presidentswithboobfaces.com.

Jesus reina ’04 married Anna

Margrethe Nilsen, a Norwegian

violinist whom he met at the

Manhattan School of Music. the

wedding, which was last May,

began with a ceremony in Norway

and then continued with a second

wedding in Málaga, Spain.

adam Bass ’05 is working

part-time at video game retailer

gameStop while also continuing to

pursue his degree in film and media

studies at Hunter College.

owen rosenblum ’05 has launched

his own full-service production

company, Betterdays Media, where

he works with creative agencies,

brands and artists to produce

engaging digital content.

Josh raeben ’01 married Sarah

Boutilier in a wedding ceremony

at the Brooklake Country Club in

florham Park, NJ, on october 13.

aaron gelband ’01 and david tunick

’01 both served as groomsmen,

with Peter concannon ’01, alex

gelband ’05, Lizzie tepper ’01 and

Paloma Woo ’01 also on hand for

the festivities. Josh and Sarah

went on to honeymoon in fiji.

Whitney ferguson ’03 left her job

at Saks fifth Avenue in December

to head to Macy’s, where she is

now an associate planner for

women’s neo-sportswear. Whitney

is responsible for managing and

growing the Macy’s private label

studio, handling the allocations and

financial plans for more than 200

stores. She says, “it’s a big change

in volume from Saks, and a huge

challenge. i am really excited about

taking this on. So far, my team is

great!”

ali green ’03 is serving as general

manager at 83 1/2, a new, contem-

porary American restaurant on

the Upper East Side that “seeks to

provide fresh, local ingredients in

the height of their season, in the

true nature of farm-to-table.”

yokasta tineo ’03 is working at the

Columbia University Medical Center

on 168th Street as a research

assistant for a study on epilepsy

and well-being. Simultaneously, she

is in school part-time for massage

therapy, expecting to complete that

program in December 2013.

grace tuttle ’03 completed her

MfA last summer at Parsons the

New School for Design in the new

trans-disciplinary design program.

this fall, she co-taught a class in

the same program, partnering

with the Department of Homeland

Security and fEMA to develop

ways to educate young people on

disaster preparedness—specifically,

joIn uS FoR the

COUGAR CAREER SYMPOSIUM

FRIDAy, FebRuARy 22, 2013

12—3:30pm | 81st Street, 4th floorAlumnae/i panelists speak to alums and Upper Schoolers

about career paths and opportunities. Chef Bobo lunch included!

Find out who’s on this year’s panel, see videos from last year and RSVP to attend: www.calhoun.org/careersymposium

a festive gathering of calhounders celebrated the wedding of Josh raeben ’01 in october. (Back, L–r) aaron gelband ’01 and alex gelband ’05 (front, L–r) david tunick ’01, Paloma Woo ’01, Josh, Lizzie tepper ’01 and Peter concannon ’01 (timothy glenn Photography)

4 2



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aLum-cLass notes-4 coLumnaLum-cLass notes-4 coLumn

5FIVE WAYS TO CONNECT ONLINE

WITH THE CALHOUN COMMUNITY

1.

caLHoun WeBsitewww.calhoun.org/alumni

2.

faceBook

www.facebook.com/calhounalums

3.

Linkedin

http://bit.ly/calhounlinkedin

4.

tWitterwww.twitter.com/calhounschool

5.

youtuBewww.youtube.com/calhounschool

she’s started her own practice as a

Pilates and meditation instructor

at a NYC-Pilates satellite location.

Wade even has a blog! read more

updates from her at nycpilates.

blogspot.com.

ally kotowski ’07 took a position at

Human rights Watch this past fall

as a development associate, having

worked at Amnesty international

for a year following her graduation

from Wesleyan University with a

degree in government.

andrew otton ’07 moved down to

Dallas, tX, after graduating cum

laude from Bowdoin College in 2011.

He is now working as managing

director at Dr. Sue’s Chocolate,

where he oversees the production

and financial operations of the

company.

tom segell ’07 moved to

Washington, DC, after graduating

from Miami University (oH) in

2011. He’s working as a marketing

associate at fiCo (formerly Cr

Software), a leading provider of

accounts receivable management

software.

andrew sklar ’07 is proof that

internships can be key! A graduate

of Boston University, Andrew took a

full-time job at NY1 News this June

as a news assistant, after having

served as an intern at the television

station for two years during college!

david katz ’06 began a position in

June as policy and financial analyst

at Sunray Power LLC, a company

that provides solar energy solutions

for commercial facilities, hospitals,

schools and other energy-intensive

operations. David earned his

master’s in public administration

from Columbia University’s School

of international and Public Affairs in

the spring of 2012.

evan Peters ’06 is currently in his

second year of the JD program

at Stanford Law School, where he

reports, “i am focusing on energy

regulation and finance, and working

on two initiatives to bring down the

cost of renewable energy.”

mike Zurkuhlen ’06 is a familiar

face back at Calhoun these days!

Mike, who was interning with the

art department last year, is now

a full-time MS art teacher for his

alma mater. Meanwhile, he’s also

pursuing his master’s degree in art

education at Brooklyn College.

max Bosch ’07, who graduated with

a BfA from Denison University,

is utilizing his creative talent as

a graphic designer for fashion

retailer ralph Lauren. Max was also

recently chosen to be one of several

artists to help launch Campbell’s go

Soups.

Wade Brill ’07 relocated to Buenos

Aires, Argentina, last winter, where

Jacqueline Bevaqua ’12 met her biological family in october. (L-r) Half sister, sierra; biological mother, tanya; Jackie; and her biological sister, Brittney.

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sam scarritt-selman ’08 is back in

New York after receiving his BA in

philosophy from Vassar College,

where he also worked as a career

assistant in the college’s Career

Development office. Sam is now

a paralegal at the law firm Schlam

Stone & Dolan LLP.

sasha schechter ’08, who graduated

from oberlin College with a BA

in creative writing and theater, is

working full-time as the community

engagement coordinator for the

friends of thirteen, inc., at WNEt/13.

matthew sommer ’08 is in his first

year at Brooklyn Law School, after

having graduated cum laude from

the University of Pennsylvania in

May 2012 with a major in classical

studies and a minor in economics.

Jack asimov ’09, who is majoring in

government at Wesleyan, studied in

Copenhagen last spring as part of

the DiS (Danish institute for Study

Abroad), where he focused on the

politics and economics of sustain-

ability. Jack lived in a kollegium,

an apartment-style dormitory

for Danish university students,

and traveled with his program to

Sweden, northern germany and

greenland.

ashley Julien ’09 is a senior at

Vassar College, where she is

majoring in studio art. Ashley

spent last summer interning at

the Lennon, Weinberg gallery in

Chelsea.

John Zurkuhlen ’09 is currently

living in Henderson, NV, where he

is pursuing a career as a full-time

golfing professional. Most recently,

John was on the golf Channel’s Am

tour, which included competing in

the 2012 national championship

at the tournament Players Club at

Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, fL.

kate davis ’10 reports that she is

loving her experience at Bennington

dan stein ’07 has been studying

toward his MM degree at the

Juilliard School. in his “free” time,

he’s also in his second year as a

part-time music teacher at Calhoun.

shelby Wong ’07 is a welcoming face

to theatergoers at the Walter Kerr

theater on Broadway, where she is

currently working as an usher for

the hit show The Heiress.

andrew conlin ’08 spent his

senior year at george Washington

University working as a legislative

aide for Holland & Knight LLP in

Washington, DC. Since receiving his

BA in international affairs, Andrew

has joined Northwestern Mutual as

a financial representative intern,

specializing in financial security and

estate planning.

Liza garrin ’08 graduated from the

fashion institute of technology and

is now working as a sales assistant

for the sleepwear intimate apparel

company Carole Hochman Design

group. the group licenses brand

names such as ralph Lauren, oscar

de la renta, Betsey Johnson and

Donna Karan.

Justin Harris ’08 is an assistant

producer for the independent film

and television distribution company

Lionsgate Entertainment Corpo-

ration in New York. He graduated

from oberlin College in May.

molly o’steen ’08 graduated from

Emerson College in Boston with a

degree in theater education and

certification in teaching K–12.

masha role-rothenberg ’08 is

working at the Eastern Massachu-

setts Abortion fund after having

graduated from Wellesley College

with honors in psychology. At

Wellesley, she was co-president of a

mental health awareness organi-

zation, Active Minds, as well as a

member of the international honor

society for psychology, Psi Chi.

College; during her free time from

studies, she has been interning

with a vegetarian chef, and she’s

spending this winter in italy,

studying sustainability and food. (A

Chef Bobo protégé, perhaps?)

Jacqueline Bevacqua ’12 is a fashion

retail and merchandising major at

Lasell College, which she’s been

enjoying so far. Her biggest news,

though, is that, in october, she met

her biological family for the first

time. Her mother, tanya, works as

an energy conservation manager

at Syracuse University; Jackie

has a 20-year-old biological sister,

Brittney, and a 15-year-old half

sister, Sierra. “When i got to their

home in Syracuse, they decorated

their house with ‘Welcome Home’

signs all over the place,” recalls

Jackie. “i also met my grandpa,

who is an ex-marine, and had

dinner with my grandma, Bachi. it

honestly could not have been a

better weekend. it was definitely

life-changing.”

aLumni uPend facuLty/staff in BasketBaLL cHaLLenge

the streak is over! in the 8th Annual

Basketball Challenge, Calhoun’s

alumni team defeated the faculty/

staff 61–55, ending a four-year

drought and evening up the all-time

series at 4-4.

the game, played on January 11

after a Varsity doubleheader, was an

impassioned contest, full of dazzling

drives to the hoop, net-splashing

three-pointers and physical play in the paint. in fact, it was a

back-and-forth affair until late in the second half, when the

alumni squad extended the lead to 12. the faculty/staff team

reinserted its starting five and valiantly fought back to within

three points in the game’s final minute. But it was the alumni

team’s year, and they fended off the rally and held on for the

sweet, sweet victory.

The suffocating defense of

Neil “Special K” Kleinberg

’85 and the alumni team

stymied Casey Shane ’06

and the faculty/Staff

squad’s offense. also

pictured, from left to right,

Joshua azenberg ‘08,

Chef andrew Gerdes and

Christian Baber ‘08

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sixth annual Pub nightA spirited crowd of 83 alums convened to kick off the Thanksgiving

holiday weekend at Calhoun’s sixth annual Alumni Pub Night. It was

the first time the event was held in midtown, at the Legends Bar, where

alums enjoyed great drinks, great snacks and great company.

1. (L–r) terry Horowitz ’09 and ashley Julien ’09

2. (L–r) matias stebbings ’97 with max Bosch ’07

3. (L–r) rico Bautista ’07, us science teacher John roeder, matthew sommer ’08 and andrew ronan ’07

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NoVEMBEr 20, 2012

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4. (L–r) margay kaplan ’08, cody Lewis ’07, maxine krugman ’08, emily capkanis ’07, serena muller ’08, Liza garrin ’08

5. Justin Harris ’08

6. (L–r) nick kahn ’05, angie Bonilla ’06, us school counselor francesca canin

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WiNtEr 2013


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1. (L-r) shanta Best ’10 with aiyana Wain-Hirschberg ‘11

2. (L-r) us math teacher erika Zamfirescu and alex tritto ’12

3. (L-r) Bobby aaronson ’12, Benny tuchman ’12 and sam sasson ’12

4. (L-r) kyra castelli-foley ’12, us theater teacher margie duffield and danica Pacifici ’12

5. (L-r) simon gilbert ’12, alek miletic ’12 and stephen mondesir ’13

6. Head of school steve nelson with gabe Berenbaum ’12

7. (L-r) marc Burnett ’12, fiona Lowenstein ’12, fiona Wiedermann ’12

Holiday Homecoming Luncheon The long-standing Harvest Fest lunch for recent grads changed

holidays this year, but more than 40 alums still returned in December

to catch up with one another and visit with their teachers. The home-

coming event kicked off with the 12 Days of Christmas celebration,

followed by a festive Chef Bobo luncheon.

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DECEMBEr 21 , 2012

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433 West End AvenueNew York, NY 10024

www.calhoun.org

address service requested

THE

SCHOOL

THE

SCHOOL

THE

SCHOOL

THE

SCHOOL

THE

SCHOOL

THE

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NoN-Profit org

U.S. PoStAgE

PaidSoUtHAMPtoN, PA

PErMit No. 225

To the Parents of Alumnae/i: If this issue is addressed to your daughter/son who no longer maintains a permanent address at

your home, please notify the Alumnae/i Office with the correct mailing address. Call 212-497-6579, fax 212-497-6531 or

contact by e-mail: [email protected].

2013 Upcoming EvEnts

March1 Benefit 2013: red Hot rHytHm! rsvP required by feb. 24 www.calhoun.org/benefit

4 tedxthecalhounschool “innovations in education” with nancy carlsson-Paige and Linda f. nathan www.calhoun.org/tickets

7 tiffany Poon ’14 in recitaL to benefit doctors Without Borders www.calhoun.org/tickets

May4 50tH annuaL caLHoun carnivaL 81st street & Wea

9 annuaL caLHoun Book fair Barnes & noble @ 81st st., 11am-5pm

June7 annuaL egg droP 81st street @ Wea

April13 kidstuff: cHarLotte’s WeB a theatreworksusa production www.calhoun.org/tickets

Don’t miss these popular annual events and Performing Arts Series presentations—all open to the public! For the complete list of upcoming events, go to the calendar on the school’s website, www.calhoun.org.

*Check out Calhoun Traditions, pg. 9

the calhoun chronicle, winter 2013

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