we & thee, winter 2012

Winter 2012

Carolina Friends School

The Elements of Educating forThe Future

Science Technology Engineering Mathematics

Cesium Barium Hafnium Tungsten Rhenium Osmium

Francium Radium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium

Lanthanium Cesium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium

Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium

S T E M

Welcome to theSTEM issue

Issue I, 2012

CFS is often considered an “artsy”school—for good reason, as you saw inthe arts-themed Winter 2010 We & Thee.Even our own community members don’talways realize what’s happening here inscience, math, and related fields.

Yet, as I’ve moved through our class-rooms in recent months, I’ve seen youngengineers in Early School using woodenshapes to build elaborate structures,Lower Schoolers using iPad applicationsas part of their math learning, MiddleSchool students keyboarding with theApple mobile lab, Upper Schoolers testingthe weight-bearing capacity of their bridgedesigns, and Summer Programs studentsusing microscopes to solve a Forensicsclass whodunit.

We hope you enjoy seeing in this issuehow the STEM subjects (Science,Technology, Engineering, and Math) arealive and well at CFS—and growing!

In the twenty years since I first encountered the acronymSTEM (for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education),I have been aware of mixed and evolving perspectives. The chargesto integrate material across disciplines and to create more appliedexperiences made it possible to imagine potentially exciting possibil-ities. But at first the imperative felt imposed from above, and resultswere difficult to guarantee. Would the exciting possibilities be worthchallenging the traditional curriculum?

I think it only fair to admit that the verdict is still out on what dis-tinguishes the STEM initiatives that work from those that don’t. Butperspectives have changed. Teachers—like those at CFS—who areafforded the resources, especially time and training, have assumedincreasing ownership of the STEM initiatives in their classroomsand schools. They’ve recognized and developed assignments thatput a premium on critical thinking, problem-solving, and collabora-tion. They’re making use of computers, tablets, interactive white-boards, and anatomy and physiology probeware. Their students

are building bridges, greenhouses, photovoltaic panels, and robots;they’re conducting experiments in water and soil chemistry and design-ing solar cars and cities. They’re paying closer attention to the settings,both natural and constructed, that surround them.

The best results: students engaged in the process, attentive to howscience happens, how experimental logic works, and how understandingcomes from putting the pieces together. Yes, there is information to beshared, there are formulas to be learned, and straightforward answers toplenty of questions. Nonetheless, as the late Robert Maynard Hutchins,educational philosopher, Dean of the Yale Law School, President and

Chancellor of the University of Chicago, said: “The object of education is toprepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” Critical

seeds are being planted; and, while I, too, cannot guarantee long-termresults, I want my children and students engaged in these ways.

Questions still remain (and will always!) about how to best pre-pare students in general and potential STEM majors in particular to

be successful in higher education, as well as the workforce and globaleconomy; but skepticism has become curiosity and curiosity enthusias-tic engagement. And enthusiastic engagement brings science, technol-

ogy, engineering, and math (as well as any discipline) to life in ways that inspire our students toask the questions that matter, reframe a problem or challenge, and generate solutions, the kindsof solutions that might change the world.

I hope you enjoy reading about some of the ways in which STEM comes to life at CarolinaFriends School.

From The Principal

by Mike Hanas, Principal

We&Thee/Winter 20122

Anthony L. Clay, Editor

Increasing ownership of

initiatives

Carolina Friends School 3

From the Cuisinaire rod structures, graph-ing projects, and experiments of Early andLower School students, to Middle Schoolforensics projects and Upper School scienceand engineering experiments, along with mathcourses that explore Zero to Infinity and tripsthat include research in the Galapagos, it’sclear that CFS students are offered myriadchallenges to inspire them to venture far in therealms of science, technology, engineering,and math [STEM], among other paths theymight choose to explore.

As is noted throughout this issue, STEMsuccess relies both on solid foundations—inmath and science as systems through whichwe investigate our world—and on the ability tomake connections, to examine from diverseperspectives, and to take bold imaginativeleaps. Students come to us curious and oftenpassionate learners. It’s our job to nurture andchallenge them, modeling the same curiosityand passion, while providing the necessaryfoundations and fostering independent think-ing and skillful collaboration, toward worth-while goals. A lofty mission indeed!

The Early Schools

It all starts in the Early Schools. Ouryoungest students love to experiment. Visitorsto our open houses viewed bean plant experi-ments and learned about the delight of chil-dren who had selected spots in the windowswith just the right light and who had wateredjust the right amount, so that their beanssprouted beyond the confines of their plasticbags sooner than their teacher’s. These stu-dents also love to build things. Any CFS EarlySchool always offers elaborate engineeringprojects, whether constructed from varied setsof blocks or from recycled materials. Tent citiestake shape frequently. And our youngest stu-dents love to manipulate and explore shapesand patterns. (See Early School Glimpse.)Measuring is fun, especially if the ingredients

measured lead to something good to eat, or ifthe object measured is the creation of a stu-dent who has taken on the challenge of “build-ing a paper chain as long as God’s leg.” Theremay be nothing so awe-inspiring as helping ayoung child make a dream become reality, andwe are all about that at CFS.

Case in point: Durham Early School stu-dents have embarked on an intriguing map-ping project. As is often true in our inquiry-based, emergent curriculum, the project start-ed with a student who wanted to create a mapfrom her house to a friend’s house, and then toschool. Soon other students were mapping,and they were studying maps; and, since theyare regular explorers of Durham via the BullCity Connector bus, someone wonderedwhether they could make a map of all theplaces in Durham that children think are cool.As luck would have it, one of the DES parentsis a cartographer, so he was invited to help.The students and teach-ers at DES expect topresent theirChildren’s Map ofDurham to the cityduring April, themonth of they o u n gc h i l d .

Talk about connections, and applying knowl-edge to the real world!

Lower School

Lower School is an ideal time to developchildren’s skills, concepts, and attitudes aboutmath. Through an inquiry-rich, understanding-based curriculum, our students come to recog-nize and apply their mathematical power. Theydevelop a strong foundation in the “basics”and, even more importantly, use those skills todevelop real mathematical understanding.

Small group instruction in math providestime for intensive work with each child in devel-oping a strong mathematical foundation. Inthese groups, students use tools and materi-als, from place value blocks to meter sticks toiPads, to support their mathematical work sothat traditional skills have a basis in under-standing and application. Together, studentsand teachers create an environment in whichthey take risks, communicate their processes,persevere, and use sound mathematical rea-soning. Every student is a mathematician!

Our math curriculum is grounded in nation-al standards as articulated by the NationalCouncil of Teachers of Mathematics and theCommon Core Standards Initiative, and teach-

ers participate in extensive professionaldevelopment experiences as continu-ous learners themselves. Teachersalso offer professional development

workshops and presentations to share theirknowledge of teaching math with colleaguesaround the country. Joan Walker shares infor-mation about working with her math studentsat skyclassjoanmath.blogspot.com.

Our younger Lower School studentsapply math skills to real-world challengesin S’Math groups (integrated science-math experiences). Favorite activities

include the project where students buildboats of foil and clay to see how many unifix

cubes they will hold without sinking (record:

by Kathleen Davidson, Director of Admission and Associate Editor of We & Thee

An Overview of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math at CFS

Foundations, Connections,Real-World Challenges, and Really Big Lizards

This photo of a marine iguana was taken by Upper School Biology teacher Frances Brindle on the endofyear trip to the Galapagos Islands, whichwill repeat this May.


212 cubes). And the Design & Engineeringclasses are among the most popular activitiesin the younger Lower School classes (seeLower School Glimpse by Charlie Layman).

When it’s time to design experiments, proj-ects are rich and varied. Teachers offer guid-ance in the scientific method, and studentsdetermine their variables and controls. “In thisway, science is not only ‘hands-on’ but also

‘minds-on,’” says Lisa Wilson Carboni, HeadTeacher of Lower School. When the olderLower School students study the human body,groups may research different systems anduse recycled materials to create a life-sizedmodel, while also creating posters about theirresearch, so students teach each other. Thesame approach is used when Lower Schoolexplores a theme like Flight, and studentsmight divide into teams to construct differentsections of a half-sized modelof the Wright Flyer.

We’ve seen only the begin-ning of the projects resultingfrom this year’s Lower Schooltheme: Homes, Spaces, andImaginary Places. The Design &Engineering classes havealready studied electric circuitry,and, thanks to a parent involvedin electrical engineering, theyexplored different types of light-ing and applications of LED tech-nology in energy conservation.Mountain Class has researchedNorth Carolina as home to a vari-ety of trees, and Forest Class hasbuilt a tipi that can house theclass for settling in or out on alovely day. Who knows what’s next?

Forest Class students also engaged in anin-depth investigation of crayfish this fall. Forseveral weeks their lab table was home to 31of these creatures, while students observedthem, drew sketches and painted them withwatercolors, recorded observations in theirjournals, and then decided how they’d share

their research with others. Some constructedmodels; others created web pages or iMovies;some wrote CrayBooks; others developed adance that would demonstrate their knowl-edge of how crayfish move. They learned a lot,and you can follow their process via the ForestClass blog: forestcfs.com.

Lower School students love Math Day, andthere is probably no day when Lisa WilsonCarboni, who earned her Ph.D. in math cur-riculum and instruction and who is famous forthe math-themed T-shirts she wears on thosedays, is happier. Students are happy too, asare their teachers and the many parents whocoordinate activities that range from math bas-ketball to probability games to iPad math apps.

From these foundations, many creativeprojects and paths can emerge, allowing stu-dents not just to learn about science and math,but to see themselves as working scientistsand mathematicians.

Middle School

When they arrive at Middle School, stu-dents delight in saying that now they get totake “a math class” or “a science class,” andperhaps a “technology” or “engineering” elec-tive, when of course their Lower School skillsgroups and integrated curriculum have beenengaging them in STEM activities for years.

Foundations are in place and need con-stant attention. We find that a third to two-thirds of our students are at least a year aheadof grade level in math when they get to Middle

School, so we composemath classes accordingly,meeting students wherethey are and guiding themforward. (A piece much likethe Upper School Glimpseby Dave Cesa could havebeen written by a MiddleSchool teacher, and weencourage you to read thearticle written by LeonIkenberry and KatePendergrass on genderstereotypes in math forHealth & Healing athttp://healthandhealin-gonline.com/gender-stereotypes-in-math/.)

A recent visit to Middle School led to a classthat clearly proclaimed “Write about me!”Kate’s Math 6 students had been challengedto find a recipe that would serve six and recre-ate it so that it would serve four. They had toshow the original recipe as well as the revisedrecipe and all their work. Some had broughtthe results of their endeavors, and this writerwas fortunate to enjoy a Heath Bar cookie that

Jack had baked, perfectly. He had even fig-ured out how to deal with a fraction of an egg!Jason’s recipe for Thai Coconut Soup sound-ed delicious, too. (I’m sure the others werealso yummy, but those were the two I saw.)

The two younger classes in Middle Schoolhave a term-long science class, with the pos-sibility of science electives in the afternoon.The first-year course integrates the study ofthe natural world with Spanish, while HenryWalker’s second-year course focuses on theMethods of Science. Projects in this classdemonstrate that it’s definitely the studentswho are designing the experiments, and stu-dents who are carrying them to their conclu-sions. Recent projects include a study ofwhether birth month affects eye color, which

object will sink faster in canola oil, and howdrivers respond to seeing a snake in the road.

A memorable project from a while ago is theone where a student wanted to determinewhich of the local popular pizza places deliv-ered a slice with the most fat, by weighingslices and creating pizza smoothies in ablender. A perfect Middle School project (bothooey gooey and employing decent scientificmethod). Can you guess the result? (If youwant to know, email this author.)

By the time they reach their third year inMiddle School, we up the ante, and Jim Rose’syear-long science course emphasizes thechanging natural world and our place in it. Theclass studies weather, climate, natural disas-ters, biological evolution, natural selection andadaptation, the interdependence of life, andearth and space science. Students haveopportunities for hands-on discovery andexperimentation, both in the laboratory and inthe environment of the school grounds. (SeeJim Rose’s Glimpse.) A recent visit to this classpresented students with test tubes that con-tained ribbons of their own DNA. Engaging!

Tommy Johnson’s fourth-year science classfocuses on environmental issues: ecology inthe fall, chemistry in the winter, and thephysics of energy in the spring. A favorite win-ter term project involves students tracking the


origins, resources, and final destination of anitem in which they are interested, whether thatbe a football, a pair of jeans, a Barbie doll, ora pair of high-end athletic shoes. Eyes areopened, opinions are formed, and studentssift through the results as they chart their ownpaths forward.

The ultimate science project for mostMiddle School students is the one wherefourth-year students build solar-charged elec-tric model cars and take them to NC State fora competition. Many cars enter the competi-tion, and when one of ours receives recogni-tion, our students are mighty proud.

Every year Middle School devotes anentire day to Science, organized by HenryWalker. In recent years, students haveenjoyed participation by Glenn Murphy, authorof numerous science books popularizing sci-ence for Middle School kids, e.g. Why Is Snot

Green? Laughs erupt as students answersuch questions as “What’s at the center of theuniverse?” and “Are humans still evolving?”

The rest of Science Day is devoted toworkshops that might include: String Theory &Relativity; Brain Cell Speed; Symmetry,Chemical Structures, and a Surprise fromOuter Space; Got Brains?; Tracking YourTaste Buds; DNA: from Test Tube to CrimeScene and Back; Piedmont Wildlife Center;DNA: All about You; Music, Math, & Mind;Nanotechnology & the Environment; Birds onthe Move; Amino Acids; Rocket Science; andthe ever-popular Potato Cannon workshop.Students also submit posters of experiments,which are judged by local scientists.

Middle School students also enjoy elec-tives that include Future Cities (see TommyJohnson’s Glimpse), Robotics, MathCounts,Flight, Woodworking, Quiltmaking (anybodyinterested in applying Geometry to real-worldprojects?), and more. The student-initiatedEco-Chicos create opportunities throughoutthe year to improve our stewardship ofresources. We delight in students’ choosing

many of their courses and taking initiative, sothey can own their education, take risks, andexplore the wide range of paths open to them.

Upper School

Upper School students know how manycredits they need in each curricular area, andthey select the classes to meet those require-ments, in addition to a few courses required ofall. They then fulfill graduation requirementswith courses of their choice. Some studentsspecialize in STEM-related courses, perhapstaking the equivalent of five years of scienceand/or math. There are plenty of offeringsfrom which to choose.

Math foundations are described in DaveCesa’s Glimpse. He, Dave Worden, andGustavo Sa teach courses that range fromAlgebra 1 to Calculus BC, and that includeDiscrete Math, Statistics, and Zero to Infinityand the History of Math.

Although we do not offer strictly designat-ed Advanced Placement Courses (in that wedo not restrict ourselves to standard AP curric-ula), our students in advanced classes dotake and receive credit for AP exams forCalculus AB and BC, Advanced Biology,Advanced Computer Programming, andsometimes other subjects. Last spring morestudents taking AP exams scored a 5, thehighest score, than any other score. AlthoughCFS will never define itself in terms of testscores, we also don’t want to hide this lightunder a bushel.

All Upper School students take Introductionto Biology, the theme of which is Water, Land,and Growth (see Jon Lepofsky and RobLavelle’s Glimpse about how the integratedfirst-year curriculum relates to STEM); andmany take intermediate, upper, and advancedcourses also taught by Frances Brindle, whoearned her Ph.D. in mycology (yes, fungi).Frances has pursued extensive professionallearning opportunities, from a six-week per-maculture seminar in Oregon to last sum-mer’s Advanced Placement EnvironmentalScience teacher workshop at NC State.Frances’s classes include Mycology, PlantBiology, Biotechnology, and EnvironmentalResearch (a hands-on course where studentsdesign research projects set in the localwoodlands), and Advanced Biology. InDecember, she and Rob Lavelle took a groupof science students to a day-long biotechnol-ogy program in Research Triangle Park.

With Bob Druhan students can explorePhysical Science, Chemistry, Astronomy,Geology, Physics, Advanced Chemistry, andAdvanced Physics—both in the classroomand, if they’re lucky, on the end-of-year trip tothe desert Southwest. In John McGovern’s

Environmental Science class, student interestdetermines which campus projects the classwill tackle. Recent ones have included build-ing solar collectors, installing solar lighting,insulating pipes, and constructing a green-house, while future projects may include work

on electric cars and the campus gray waterrecycling system. Students were very excitedwhen Technology Director Sharon Guilloryteamed up with Dave Worden (who augmentshis math expertise with many years of con-struction experience) to teach Introduction toEngineering Design (see Sharon’s Glimpse).Jon Lepofsky teaches Neuroethics andrecently took his class to the Duke-UNC BrainImaging Analysis Center for a morning of veryproductive study.

Upper School creates symposium ses-sions between trimesters, and some of theseallow students to explore STEM-related top-ics. At last spring’s symposium on the brain,students heard a keynote presentation byCynthia Kuhn, a CFS alumni parent andProfessor at Duke University Medical Center.They then chose two workshops from alengthy list that included:

s ADHD: A Hunter in a Farmer’s World s Food & Brain Chemistrys The Language of Brain Cellss The Origins of Mental Illness s Psychosomatic Medicine s Singularity s A Whole New Kind of Mind s Yoga and Benefits to the Brain s The Electric Brains The Meeting of Buddhist Contemplative

Tradition and Modern Neuroscience s What Makes Some Mathematics Proofs

Better than Others? s Why Teens Take Risks. We are grateful for the contributions of the

accomplished researchers who contributed tosymposium and other CFS experiences.

Of course STEM-related projects aren’trestricted to the school year. While CFSSummer Programs offer plenty of excitingchallenges to younger continued on page 18

Glimpses into STEM at CFS


At Chapel Hill Early School a wide array of games, manipulatives,

literature, and entire centers support the important work of math explo-

ration and mastery. There is a joy and richness in the study of mathe-

matics that those of us who experienced math as memorized facts did

not enjoy. This approach to math provokes questions; stimulates a

search for meaning; engages children’s thinking; encourages them to

look for patterns, relationships, and connections; and helps children

make sense of and understand the mathematics of everyday life.

Learning math through literature captivates students and motivates

them to reason mathematically. Students follow the story in Ready,Set, Hop and duplicate subtraction problems as their frogs leap off the

lily pad. Stories help even a reluctant learner understand math foun-

dations, and the practice of discriminating patterns in text and illustra-

tions is a primary step in reading.

Open-ended activities using manipulatives are always available.

Children love to create imaginative yarn shapes, like dinosaurs and

volcanoes, and then predict how many one-inch blocks they can place

inside–a perfect way to measure area. Other manipulatives help with

ordering, comparing, and sorting skills. A block-building center invites

children into the world of engineering and math, as they explore the

basic geometry of three-dimensional shapes and address questions

of area, perimeter, volume, weight, and balance.

Five-year-olds are fascinated with how long an elephant’s eyelash-

es are (5”) and comparing that to the size of a goldfish. You can find

children measuring off the length of a cougar’s jump (40’), comparing

that to their own long jumps, and recording their findings proudly.

The children look forward to estimating on Fridays. They enter

class asking, “What’s in the jar?” They learn about the range of num-

bers, concepts such as more than, less than, and equal to, and how

to compare size in space. The highlight: when the jar is opened, the

count is taken, and we all enjoy a sample of the candy in the jar.

Besides having daily opportunities to use these items, formal math

instruction in small groups takes place. It isn’t enough to have mathe-

matics arise incidentally. We must be purposeful in planning experi-

ences that will help develop the attitude and aptitude to gain mathe-

matical understandings.

It can be magical!

The designers and inventors of the future are developing their skills

in the CFS Lower School!

Design and Engineering classes provide opportunities for students

to learn about properties of physics, apply mathematical concepts,

and engage in experimentation and testing of structural models and

materials. Their findings inform decisions they make in subsequent

building projects.

Creative and original design work is explored by giving our students

real-life problems to solve. Children begin by focusing on projects that

emphasize design decisions and construction techniques. Children

may, for example, design and build a car that is required to roll a given

distance to explore the structural engineering of moving vehicles.

In their first years of Lower School, students build their understand-

ing of the essentials of electricity. Terms like circuits, switches, conduc-

tors, and insulators become everyday vocabulary. Through design

and experimentation, a deeper understanding of electricity emerges.

Later they apply this knowledge as they build and power simple

machines.

The tools we use are specifically designed for children and enable

our young engineers to do real work. Students work with hand drills,

saws, and more to learn basic techniques and produce finished proj-

ects. Safety is a priority as children develop these real-world skills.

Throughout the process, students learn effective construction tech-

niques, produce scale drawings with specific measurements, and

often write narratives about their plans and projects. They also share

their work with one another

As students progress through the Design and Engineering pro-

gram, design challenges become increasingly complex and open-

ended. Students frequently work in teams to grapple with engineering

challenges. For example, students might create a mechanical device

that can pick up an object or design and build a marble maze that runs

its course in a given amount of time. Children combine the concepts,

skills, and problem-solving needed for design and engineering to pro-

duce creative and satisfying results.

Lower School Design & Engineeringby Charlie Layman

Chapel Hill Early School: Mathemagicby Debbie Kornegay and Sue Caldwell Donaldson

What makes your city different from others? How does it generateand use sustainable energy? What sorts of future technologies bene-fit residents? What makes it a place where people would want to live?

These are some of the guiding questions we routinely ask in the

Future Cities elective during fall and winter terms. Students have the

task of imagining and designing a future city that integrates sustain-

able approaches to producing energy, growing food, managing waste,

and providing opportunities for work and recreation.

The class is modeled after the National Engineers Week Future

City competition (futurecity.org), designed for Middle School students

across the country. Students must build, manage, and grow a virtual

city using SimCity software and striving to realize Future City goals.

They must think about taxes, spending, development, attracting busi-

ness, and managing resources. The goal is to get their city to house

at least 50,000 inhabitants and to last at least 150 years, all while bal-

ancing the budget. Students must write two essays about a city that

they imagine is possible, focusing on a designated research topic.

This year’s topic is energy production and use. Students must also

build a scale model of part of their imagined city that highlights some

of its unique features, including moving parts as part of the design.

One of the main goals of the competition is to introduce students to

the roles of engineers in developing and running cities. Students

define problems, brainstorm solutions, assess methods and materials,

build prototypes, test them, and assess how well they have dealt with

the challenge. And all of this has to happen within the constraints of

time and budget. Most students are very invested in finding solutions

and collaborating on how to try out their different ideas. They are

never at a loss for different ways to solve a problem, and it becomes

more a matter of which idea to try first.

Students come from all over the state to a regional competition in

Raleigh to share models and make oral presentations to a panel of

engineer judges. Last year one of our teams won an award for best

transportation system, and one of this year’s teams just won an award

for an innovative energy system that combined a giant photovoltaic

dome with a lightening capturing system. Each team won $200!

As a teacher I have really enjoyed this class because I feel more

like a collaborator than an instructor. I provide materials and some

basic problem-solving suggestions, and students do the rest.


Middle School: Future Cities Electiveby Tommy Johnson

Middle School: Our Changing Worldby Jim Rose

Is it magic or science? On the first day of class I pour water into

one of three empty cups and shuffle the cups around, challenging

students to keep their eyes on the one with water. I’m a clumsy

magician, but I do my best. When they gleefully point out the cup

with water, I hold it aloft and tip it–and nothing comes out!

Is it science or magic? The next day we ask: What did they see?

Are they sure the cup was empty? How do they know? What did

they really see? Did they all see the same thing? Their first entries

in their science journals document their quest for answers. This is

the essence of being a scientist, I say: carefully looking at the world,

wondering, asking questions, and figuring out how to answer them.

Too often people see science as a vast, intimidating accumulation

of arcane knowledge, accessible only to a brilliant few scientists.

Look at each other, I tell them. Have you ever asked a question or

wondered about how something works? You are scientists!

How do we know what the world looked like millions of years

ago? I give students cups of what looks like gray gravel (and what

is shallow sediment from Aurora, NC). They discover a bit of coral,

a shell, a shark’s tooth; the more they look the more they find. What

first seemed a cup of gravel is full of fossils. Some students have

found 50 tiny sharks’ teeth in a single cup. We combine individual

data and analyze it using a spreadsheet. What does this additional

information tell us? By the end of the unit, students are able to

accurately envision and describe the undersea environment of

coastal NC 30 million years ago, having also discovered how the

statistics they learn in math class and the drawing techniques of art

are crucial to this understanding, and how real science works.

Similarly, students learn about genetics and inheritance by inves-

tigating personal traits in their families and by extracting their own

DNA. They measure their shadows to track the sun’s path and learn

why we have seasons. They create a half-mile-wide scale model of

the Solar System to understand what space really means.

With the opening day water trick, students’ questions eventually

narrow the possibilities, and someone wonders about disposable

diapers, which I happen to have on hand. They dissect the diapers,

and several investigators use the powdery substance they find to

recreate my demonstration, debunking my magic. To me, the magic

lies in seeing students discover they are all scientists.


Upper School Engineering Designby Sharon Guillory

Last December, an 8” x 14” chocolate bar arrived in the mail. It

came with a challenge: find a creative way to break it into edible

pieces, film the effort, and submit the video. Technology Director

Sharon Guillory enlisted math teacher Dave Worden and a handful of

Upper School students to take up the gauntlet. The team spent two

weeks of lunches, breaks, and afternoons designing and building a

Rube Goldberg machine to accomplish the task. Although the movie

(youtu.be/fyDqK5acVaw) won no Academy Awards, it was a lively

learning experience for the participants. Before the contraption was

even disassembled, the students were clamoring for a class to contin-

ue learning about design and engineering . . . and a new Upper

School course was born.

Offered this fall with essentially the same cast of characters, the

course provides an introduction to the engineering design process

that integrates math and science to solve real-world problems. Hands-

on experience with structural systems is the focus, and we use bridge

building as the primary tool to investigate ways to ensure stability, as

well as ways in which structures fail. In the process, the students build

a multitude of structures and eventually destroy most of them.

Does each break in a predictable way? If not, why not? Students

use both vector analysis and computer simulations to explore stress-

es such as compression, tension, and shear on structural components

and then compare those results to their experiential findings. The

class also examines various building materials to learn ways in which

they can be evaluated for use in structural design. For example, stu-

dents build plywood forms, mix their own concrete using various

aggregates, and destroy the samples with sledge hammers, noting

how each different mixture affects the final strength of the concrete.

This hands-on approach allows the students to consolidate the empir-

ical and the theoretical, giving them a deeper understanding of how

engineers combine math and science to design the infrastructure of

modern life.

In the Upper School, we love math. Moreover, we love teaching

math. We dare our students to love math too. If students already love

math when they arrive, we have a solid basis on which to work, learn,

and grow. If others don’t yet love math, we owe it to them to spark their

interest or at least their appreciation in order to build that basis.

Regardless of our students’ initial attitudes, what do we do to nurture

and maintain their mathematical interest?

Math is the rigorous system that arises from thinking critically in

order to best describe our world. As Gauss, arguably the greatest

mathematician, said, “Mathematics is the Queen of the Sciences.” In

other words, math is the rigid, underlying framework on which science,

technology, and engineering are built. Accordingly, we maintain rigor

when we teach. This manifests itself when we urge students to ask not

only how, but also why. Why does this method work? Can I show that

it works? Are there other valid options? We not only justify everything,

we embrace every logically sound method and every logically sound

justification, particularly when either originates with a student.

We hardly neglect the offspring of math, though. Rather, we active-

ly incorporate naturally-arising scientific, technological, and engineer-

ing applications. In Geometry or Algebra 2, we might do a project on

surveying using The Geometer’s Sketchpad while studying triangles.

In Discrete Mathematics, we might examine cultural applications, per-

haps discussing how voting theory applies to controversial elections

both at home and abroad. Statistics, a course clearly grounded in

applications, has risen rapidly in popularity among students, correlat-

ing closely with its increased relevance in the global society we pre-

pare our students to engage. Even Calculus, historically and current-

ly the ultimate secondary-level math course, arose from a need to

apply math.

Furthermore, we teach each individual student. We meet our stu-

dents where they are when they enter our classrooms and, in turn,

help them along as far as possible. We challenge each student to

grow by maintaining high standards while simultaneously offering

opportunities to achieve beyond those standards, be they targeted

individual questions in whole-class settings, challenging quiz prob-

lems in addition to those covering the fundamental topics, or through

the consistent availability of extra help

Why is this true? How does this apply? Do I understand this as well

as I can? If a student can answer these three questions, the third

eventually affirmatively, then we have served our students, ourselves,

and the subject of math well.

Upper School Math Pedagogyby Dave Cesa


Summer Programsby Chris Firpo

What better setting than Friends School, and what better time than

summer, to dabble, experiment, question, create, and blend the sci-

ences and the arts? What better opportunity for students to explore

something completely new, develop a passion, and push the prover-

bial envelope of creativity? This is what over a thousand participants

in the Summer Programs experienced last year. In prior years—17 of

them—over 11,000 campers from surrounding communities have par-

ticipated in CFS summer programs. A significant outreach!

What started as a small program with under a hundred campers

enrolled in simple craft classes has evolved into a variety of challeng-

ing workshops focusing on activities as diverse as launching rockets,

creating 3D structures, painting murals, deconstructing engines, pro-

gramming robots, peering through microscopes, performing

Shakespeare, filming, weaving, dancing, singing, and hiking—to

name a few.

Summer camps have morphed from simple to complex as we chal-

lenge a new generation. Our workshop in Sleuth Science gives

campers the chance to learn the latest techniques of forensic science,

including DNA tracing. Last summer, two groups worked with Upper

School science instructor Frances Brindle to investigate mysterious

crime scenes, collect data, and apply sophisticated scientific tech-

niques to unmask the guilty.

Visit the campus and you’ll need to watch out for robots careening

down a hallway as they perform their programmers’ complex com-

mands. You may encounter videographers filming scenes next to rock

and roll bands. More than 120 workshops include (and are not limited

to) Science Challenge, Comic Design, Cooking 101, Fort Building,

Sports Camp, and major theater productions complete with costumes

and sets. Try karate, experiment with web design or gaming, launch a

rocket, create a new three-dimensional design, and learn about archi-

tecture. Paint with watercolors or make batiks. Take a ball of clay and

shape it into a bowl, a dragon, a decorative tile. Make jewelry, create

birdhouses, learn to build a fire, take a hike to explore river life.

Refurbish a battered chair with zebra stripes, transform a thrift shop

find into an art piece, hula hoop to music, try improv, create a mosaic

piece inspired by Gaudi.

Campers are using computers, microscopes, magnifying glasses,

paint brushes, measuring tapes, video cameras, hammers, and plain

old pencils! They’re shaping, cutting, drawing, observing, remodeling,

creating, and expanding their knowledge, all during “downtime”—the

summer.

For Middle and Upper School students, the school year ends with

a variety of experiential learning opportunities, several of which fea-

ture STEM-related opportunities for our students.

In the last three weeks Middle School students select three

Exploratorium mini-sessions that can have them making maps,

exploring careers, cooking, working in the CFS garden, geocaching,

researching primates, exploring state parks, learning about local

farms, hiking in the Smokies, exploring the mysteries of math, study-

ing the physics of roller coasters, pondering environmental ethics, and

learning about architecture, among other possibilities.

Exploratorium enables students to have a different, more intense

school experience than they can during a term when they are taking

several classes. These experiences involve dabbling in new fields of

study, delving deeply into topics, taking risks, building groups, and

exploring relationships. Exploratorium sessions meet early adoles-

cents’ needs for intensity, exploration, risk-taking, gaining expertise,

personal growth, decision-making, problem-solving, and information

gathering. Sometimes interests are sparked that lead to more exten-

sive study when students are older.

Upper School students end their year with internships or trips. The

first-year class goes to Newton Grove, the capstone of their first-year

curriculum. Older students are able to take up to two trips during the

other three years. Recent CFS ads have noted that our science pro-

gram starts at the campus creek and can extend to the Galapagos,

and that trip, led by Biology teacher Frances Brindle, is quite popular.

This year Frances hopes that students will have the chance to connect

with the UNC Center for Galapagos Studies, thanks to CFS parent

John Bruno, who is a marine biologist and conservation ecologist.

Students in Bob Druhan’s Geology and Astronomy classes have pri-

ority for the trip that ventures to the desert Southwest, where students

experience first-hand some of what they have studied during the year

while hiking, rafting, and camping under the stars. Students on the

Trinidad trip have had the opportunity to help with a construction proj-

ect and explore nearby marine life. Trips to Nicaragua, the

Adirondacks, and other destinations also include a mix of research,

adventure, and service learning.

Students not on trips engage in two-week internships, which have

included working with an anesthesiologist or specialist in forensic

medicine, shadowing an architect, enrolling in flight school, studying

acupuncture, working in a university lab, interning at the EPA, and

countless other possibilities. End-of-year internships often lead to

summer placements in university labs.

EndofYear Experiencesby Kathleen Davidson


According to a recent editorial summarizing

STEM education for the American Association

for the Advancement of Science, a “true STEM

education should increase students’ under-

standing of how things work and improve their

use of technologies.” The author posits that

STEM curricula, when based in collaborative

projects and laboratory learning, offer mean-

ingful ways to learn “such skills as adaptabili-

ty, complex communication, social skills, non-

routine problem-solving, self-management,

and systems thinking.” (Science, November

27, 2011)

While the discourse on STEM education

that has been sweeping the nation as of late is

indeed compelling, especially with its stress

on understanding how things work through

building “21st Century skills,” the CFS 9th

grade curriculum that marries the humanities

and the natural sciences through a compre-

hensive environmental studies curriculum not

only asks students to learn the technical

knowledge of how things work, but also fos-

ters the ethical capacity to ask why it matters.

The integration of this curriculum occurs

between a year-long biology course

(Introduction to Biology), a year-long literature

course (Foundations of Literature), and a

year-long course in human-environmental

geography. Through these three classes, stu-

dents are asked to live out the closing words

of the CFS mission—that it is possible to

change the world—by understanding how the

world works and asking why it works that way.

In doing so, students end the year on a two-

week-long, service-based, experiential learn-

ing trip to Newton Grove, NC, where they work

with migrant farmworkers and their families,

and ask: Can the world work differently?In the Geography class, students begin the

year learning the fundamentals of Earth

Systems Science through project-based

inquiry, from jerry-rigging solar ovens in order

to measure the effects of albedo, to using

Google Docs to collaboratively debate the

human and environmental causes of the dev-

astating 2010 floods in Pakistan, to teaching a

class session on how a major watershed’s

hydrological cycle is shaped by global, region-

al, and local factors that are both human-driv-

en and natural. But more than just understand

how nature works and how humans alter it

through technology, students are pressed to

consider the implications of our technical

knowledge of nature, from deliberating the

ethics of consuming fish, to designing their

own commodity chains for chocolate produc-

tion, created according to their own sense of

what would be an ethical way to move cacao

from bean to bar.

As students move into the spring and study

migration, urbanization, and globalization

(alongside the biology and literature of

growth), the students develop the tools to

understand how contemporary space is pro-

duced through human and environmental

forces; more importantly, they are better

equipped to understand the politics of space in

the contemporary world. As such, students

can engage more fully with current events and

be more prepared to grow as global citizens.

This is because the curriculum stresses rela-

tionships, connections, and movements

across the world in an imaginative way, not

just one that displays how things work.

While the 9th graders receive a strong

foundation in how things work and the role of

technology in shaping the world, they also cul-

tivate the critical thinking skills to ask: what

does technology mean and how should it

shape the world? As this issue of We & Theeshows, these questions get amplified through-

out the Upper School curriculum. Without

these deeper questions, we worry that the ris-

ing tide of STEM education ignores Mary

Shelley’s vision of her own fantastic creation:

“I saw—with shut eyes, but acute mental

vision—I saw the pale student of unhallowed

arts kneeling beside the thing he had put

together. . . . Frightful must it be, for supreme-

ly frightful would be the effect of any human

endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism

of the Creator of the world.”

We want our students to know that it is pos-

sible to change the world by making it of their

own creation. To get there, we push the

boundaries of STEM and create the conditions

for them to be thoughtful and purposeful in

how they try to do it. Or, as a current 9th grad-

er puts it: the integrated curriculum “teaches

me that there is more to science than just

knowing the answer. It teaches me the every-

day applications of science as well as the

philosophical ones.”

Asking Not Just How But WhyAn Integrated Approach to Curriculum for First-Year Upper School Students

by Jon Lepofsky and Rob Lavelle

Scientist Dan Kenan on Math and Science at CFS


I have two children who have attended

CFS. My daughter is currently a 2nd-year

Upper Schooler and my son graduated last

year. I believe that they both have had an out-

standing science and math education, even

extraordinary in many ways. . . .

Let me first describe my background in sci-

ence. I majored in biology and chemistry at

the College of William and Mary. I then spent

two years in graduate school at the University

of Edinburgh in Scotland studying molecular

biology before coming to Duke University to

earn my M.D. as well as a Ph.D. in microbiolo-

gy and immunology. I have been a principal

investigator at Duke for more than 10 years

and I have taught science to Duke undergrad-

uates, grad students, med students, and post-

doctoral fellows.

My experience teaching at Duke has alert-

ed me to the fact that many of our top univer-

sity students have never been taught how to

THINK. Instead, they tend to approach science

as a body of facts that can be taught and read

in a text book and answered on a multiple

choice test. The reality of course is that sci-

ence is a system by which we investigate the

world around us. That system requires that the

investigators be able to look at data from vari-

ous points of view, make connections, and

leap to insights that may not be obvious at first

glance.

I have found that this is where CFS stu-

dents have a huge advantage. At CFS, stu-

dents are challenged to think and to express

themselves. They tend to be prepared to stand

up for minority positions, and to be thoughtful

and considerate of many points of view. By

considerate, I don’t necessarily mean polite. I

mean that they take into account more than

one way of looking at an issue or a question,

and consider multiple inputs before reaching a

conclusion or plan of action.

Of course, action itself is key to success in

science. One must be willing to act, to investi-

gate, to challenge dogma, to perform the key

experiment, to turn over stones still left in

place. CFS students are well accustomed to

action. It is built into the mission statement:

“we teach our children that it is possible to

change the world.” Two kids into the CFS cur-

riculum, I can assure you that both of my chil-

dren take this statement as self-evident.

I have seen a number of CFS students, my

own included, interacting with university scien-

tists, for example in the Summer Ventures

Program in Science and Mathematics, or the

Howard Hughes Precollege Summer

Program, or performing independent summer

research projects in university laboratories. I

love to sit back and watch the reactions of

these senior scientists when they engage our

students, as they begin to realize that they are

talking to a future scientist of substance, who

is capable of taking an idea or a project and

running with it. Many times I have seen these

conversations end with the statement, “I would

love to have you work in my lab.”

The full text of Dan Kenan’s reflection canbe found on the CFS website:cfsnc.org/page.cfm?p=1000

by Dan Kenan, M.D., Ph.D.

Parent Reflection

Signs of Life on Other Planets? No, samples of bacterial life forms on this planet, growing in the sametypes of petri dishes CFS students in the Middle School science lab use every year.


How did you get into computer science,

since you were a Chinese literature major

before you moved to the U.S.?

I got into computer science by accident. I

studied Chinese literature, and I wanted to

study comparative literature, but when I first

came to the U.S., I didn’t speak much

English. Three words were what I had, not

enough to study literature. Somebody said

that computer science is manmade language,

and you can use it to make things. So I

thought, “That’s great because I’m good with

language, and I also love the sound of ‘man-

made language’ because it sounds like every-

body else has to learn it from scratch also.

And I love making things.” It turned out to be

really lucky

Actually, computer science, even though

it’s a scientific field, is just as much art as it is

science because writing a program is a very

creative process. It requires not only critical

thinking, which you usually learn in math and

physics, but also structured thinking, which

you typically learn in language and history

classes. So it’s actually a field that crosses

categories

You’re the CEO of the company,

Geomagic. What does it do?

I started Geomagic to use software to

make things, just like how I got into comput-

ers. While many people in software were

working on social network, database, and

finance kinds of software, I really wanted to

write software that could create things we

could use.

There’s an interesting story. When you

were maybe five, you were on the Mattel web-

site designing Barbies, and after finishing

there’s a big print button, and you clicked it. I

heard you scream, “I want a real Barbie, not a

picture of a Barbie!” That was when I said,

“Okay, I’m going to start a company that,

when you hit the print button, prints out a real

Barbie.

So I started a company that focused on

creating 3D models for 3D printing, but it was

too early: 3D printing wasn’t mature, the

machines were too expensive, there weren’t

many materials. The company got into tradi-

tional manufacturing, like cars and automo-

tive, and the NASA space shuttle

Actually, that was interesting because I

had wanted to be an astronaut, but I didn’t

have any choice, so I studied Chinese litera-

ture, and I ended up starting this company to

help safely return astronauts. So, life seems

to come to a full circle, when you study math

and science.

Do you think it’s important to teach math

and science in school?

Well, math and science are very funda-

mental subjects to study. When we go to

school, we basically train our minds how to

think. And math, science, engineering, and

technology are the fields that teach us analyt-

ical thinking, which is how most things are

made, which is not to say social sciences and

art aren’t important. They are also very impor-

tant, but math and science do give you basic

skills, and without them, we couldn’t quite—

for example, we couldn’t make cars or air-

planes, we couldn’t help make the air clean,

we couldn’t design medicines that treat ill-

nesses. If we didn’t have math and science,

the entire nation might be behind, so we

would not be globally competitive.

But I would say that art and literature are

equally important, because structured think-

ing and creativity are also very important. Of

course, art and science both are creative.

Creativity is not just about art. When we’re

young, we’re all able to imagine things.

Imagination is to think up things that are not

present. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist. It

just means they’re not in front of us. We can’t

see, we can’t hear, we can’t touch and feel, so

we imagine, and creativity is applied imagina-

tion. Math and science require a lot of creativ-

ity, just like art requires a lot of creativity.

Together, they can make the world a function-

al and beautiful place. You can’t just make it

beautiful and not functional. That’s not going

to work. Math and science are what make

everything function. Everything turns, the

door opens, the car runs, but art is what feeds

our minds and souls.

How do you combine the two?

I love math and science, and I love art. I

like both, and I like to mix them up. It’s kind of

like cooking. You put all the ingredients in

there, and, voila, it comes out something

that’s, each time, unique. I think most people

tend to choose one or the other because

that’s how our schools channel them, but I

really like both. Steve Jobs likes both too.

He’s an embodiment of technology meets art.

I think when the society develops above the

basic need, science and technology kind of

provide that basic layer foundation of making

everything work and everything better, and art

puts that packaging outside to make every-

thing also beautiful. I just like both of them.

Perfectly PingAn interview with CFS parent Ping Fu by her daughter Xixi Edelsbrunner (‘12)

Ping is cofounder, president, and CEO of GeoMagic. Inc. Magazine named her its 2005 Entrepreneur ofthe Year and in 2010 President Obama appointed her to the National Advisory Council on Innovation andEntrepreneurship. Last year, she received the Women in Business Lifetime Achievement Award from theTriangle Business Journal and the Citizen of the World Award from the International Affairs Council ofNorth Carolina. We are grateful that she presented a workshop on Singularity for last year’s Upper Schoolsymposium on the brain.


And that’s what Geomagic does too?

Yes, Geomagic is really in the intersec-

tion of STEM—I mean, science, math, tech-

nology, and engineering—we do all of them,

but then, we also do art. But I would say we

do the science, math, technology, engineer-

ing more than we do art.

What are some of your favorite projects?

Geomagic started with the mission,

“Advance and apply 3D technology for the

benefit of humanity.” So, “advance” is about

innovation, creativity. “Apply” is about mak-

ing it useful. Our technology’s based on the

3-dimensional capturing, modeling, and

processing for design and manufacture, so

the software is 3D technology. And our high-

er level of purpose is to benefit humanity.

So, everything we do, we want it to benefit

humanity.

So from that perspective, some of my

favorite projects are . . .

I talked about NASA, helping detect and

repair the damage on the insulated tiles on

the space shuttle to guarantee the safe

return of the NASA astronauts. The

Columbia disaster was caused when tile

damage under the wing was not detected,

so when they entered the earth, the heat

went in and blew up the space shuttle. So

that’s one of my favorite projects.

Another of my favorite projects is Scott

Summit’s work. He’s an industrial designer,

but he’s also an engineer, and he designs

those prosthetic legs. He calls them fairings.

Fairings usually are the part in front of the

motorcycle that’s smooth and curved and

beautiful. He wanted to make sure that the

prosthetic product that he designed—not

just has the function, which is the engineer

part—he wanted to make sure that it also

contains the shape of your body and the

emotion, the pride of—to be proud of what

you have, rather than be ashamed of what

you have. And also beauty. So he combines

engineering, art, and psychology into his

product. He brings back the dignity, the

pride, and the function of the product. I’m

really proud of that.

The Long Now Clock (a clock that will run

for 10,000 years) is another one that I’m

really interested in. Danny Hillis started the

Thinking Machine. He’s a total science,

technology, engineer, entrepreneur type of

person. He built the world’s fastest comput-

ers, and he called the Long Now Clock the

world’s slowest computer. I think because in

today’s world, everybody thinks so short

term—it’s always “here” and “now”—he

wanted to use this as a symbol for long-term

thinking, which I really like because the U.S.

has such a short history, only a few hundred

years. For someone to think about building

something that would last for 10,000 years,

when maybe civilization wouldn’t be there,

maybe the United States wouldn’t be there.

. . . I can’t even imagine what happens

10,000 years later, but for Americans to

build that, it’s almost like America’s building

pyramids, and I just love what the clock

stands for—for long-term thinking, and

that’s another of my favorite projects.

What else? World Heritage Preservation.

I’m working with Ben Kacyra on scanning

and preserving 500 World Heritage pieces

in five years. . . . So, the next project I’m

going to do, that I haven’t done yet, is to

scan the Great Wall of China, one of the ten

man-made projects that can be viewed from

space. You know, if you think about the

Great Wall of China, back then, they didn’t

have all this modern technology. How did

they build it so it lasts so long? It must have

a lot of math and engineering concepts built

in when they built this thing. World Heritage

is being called the human’s collective mem-

ory, or human’s collective history. And to be

able to preserve these things, so they don’t

deteriorate, so we can pass them onto the

future generations, seems to be very mean-

ingful. And this work all requires a very good

foundation of math, science, engineering,

and entrepreneurship.

Congratulations to our Afghan Sister SchoolCongratulations to the first ever graduating class

from the Topchi Village School, our sister school in

Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan. This represents a

huge accomplishment for these twelve boys and

four girls, and for this rural school with whom we

have exchanged gifts and pen pal letters since

2004, when their school opened.

Last year, at the request of the Topchi staff, we

provided lab equipment and teacher training for the

science program at the high school; their most

recent request includes two computers and a gen-

erator. We are delighted to support science and

technical education at this school, which lacks

electricity but shows great resolve to educate its

students for the 21st century.

At a meeting for worship in November, all stu-

dents and staff from Lower, Middle, and Upper

School celebrated this milestone and the hope it

represents for a more peaceful world.


Chris Chapman is eager to get back into the

CFS science classroom.

Since graduating in 2007 and going on to

study engineering at North Carolina State

University, he’s been back to CFS Upper

School science classes several times to try to

explain what engineers do.

“Most people don’t really know the difference

between a mechanic who works on your car

and a mechanical engineer,” he says. “When I

tell people I am applying to grad school to study

neural systems engineering, people’s eyes tend

to glaze over.”

But when he gets into the classroom and

begins to describe the equipment he’s working

on to measure soldiers’ speed and agility after a

concussion, or how he’s been dissecting pigs’

legs to test the tensile strength of the anterior

cruciate ligament (ACL) to see if the standard

treatment for athletes who tear their ACL is

actually weakening the ligament, students

begin to glimpse the possibilities and practicali-

ties of engineering.

“I hope I convey how exciting engineering

is,” he says. “And how many different areas of

life it touches.”

Chris says his interest in engineering goes

back many years. He remembers fondly the

CFS classes where he got to make things, from

a potato cannon (which worked) to a jet turbine

made from old car parts (which didn’t work).

Throughout Upper School, he had his heart

set on being a mechanical engineer. After start-

ing college, however, he stumbled upon a sec-

ond passion: biomedical engineering.

“My best friend switched to biomedical engi-

neering, and I looked at his courses and was

intrigued,” Chris says. He signed up for

“Physiology for Engineers” and got hooked on

the human body. “We spent one semester look-

ing at electrical systems in the body – figuring

out how eyes see and ears hear. Then we spent

another semester looking at fluid mechanics –

how the body handles blood and other fluids,”

he said. He is now double majoring in mechan-

ical and biomedical engineering. Having

already worked for a year at Alcatel Lucent, he

has decided to do more research in biomedical

engineering, and is applying for graduate

school.

Chris credits his AP Biology class with

Frances as giving him the foundation he need-

ed to be able to add a biomedical engineering

degree to his plate. “When I took it, I thought

she expected a ridiculous amount of work, but

in retrospect, it was great preparation for col-

lege,” he says. “In fact, the credits I got for AP

Bio at CFS made it possible for me to add bio-

medical engineering and still finish in four

years,” he says. “I’ve thanked Frances for that

several times!”

Chris says he hopes that coming back to

campus to share his experience at NC State will

encourage other students to explore the wide

world of engineering.

“I love the innovation that goes on in engi-

neering,” he says. “And the impact it has on

people. Particularly with biomedical engineer-

ing, it is easy to see how successful products

can make such a difference in people’s lives.”

An Engineer Hooked on the Human Body

Alumni Profile: Chris Chapman, ‘07by Marsha Green, CFS Trustee

Birds of a FeatherChris Chapman graduated with a

CFS class in which several peers

had ambitions related to STEM. His

friends Will Sall and Chris Walls also

recently graduated from NC State in

Engineering programs. Katie Reif

completed her Engineering program

at Tufts and is headed to Stanford for

a Masters in Civil Engineering.

Morgan Lashaw is completing an

Engineering degree at Purdue. Taylor

Shields graduated from Guilford

College with a degree in Computer

and Information Technology (and

was chosen as Outstanding Senior in

Information Technology). At UNC,

Claire Newlon received a B.S. in

Nutrition and Miranda Parker gradu-

ated with a degree in Psychology.

Chris Venters graduated from Duke

with a B.S. in Biology and is now pur-

suing a Ph.D. in Cell Biology at

University of Pennsylvania.

We look forward to learning more

about the accomplishments of these

and all of our CFS alums!

by Marsha Green, CFS Trustee


Trannon Mosher has not quite decided

what he wants to be when he grows up.

It could be something to do with the envi-

ronment. Or dancing. Or computer modeling.

“One thing CFS taught me is that you don’t

have to pigeon-hole yourself,” said Trannon,

who graduated from CFS in 2001, did an

undergraduate double degree in dance and

aerospace engineering at University of

Colorado at Boulder, completed his master of

science at Massachusetts Institute of

Technology in 2010, and is now living in Reno,

Nevada, doing computer modeling for Clear

Capital, a real estate valuation agency.

Mosher said it wasn’t until after he left CFS

that he recognized how lucky he was to attend

a school that offered him the opportunity to

excel in both science and the arts – “to be at a

place where a nerd could take modern dance

and nobody thought it was odd,” as he

describes it.

Asking about his favorite classes at CFS

gives a taste of Trannon’s wide-ranging inter-

ests. He recalls getting totally caught up in

imaginary travels during Henry Walker’s

“Around the World” history class in Middle

School, despite being terrified about all the

writing it entailed. He took his first dance class

with Annie Dwyer when he was eight or nine

and branched out into choreography in Upper

School. And he holds a special place in his

heart for Bill Messer, “who had an amazing

energy and enthusiasm for science and the

outdoors, and instilled the knowledge that you

could be totally into science and math but not

be a shut-in.”

The outdoor environment has always called

to Trannon. His favorite hangout at CFS was

in the thick, rough branches of the [oak] tree

between the Middle School and the creek. “It

had great big branches which were perfect for

sitting and doing nothing, as I often liked to

do,” he said. After graduating from University

of Colorado, he hiked the entire Appalachian

Trail, a journey of roughly 2,000 miles com-

pleted in five months and four days. And his

academic focus at MIT was on solar energy –

an outdoor topic that he took into the comput-

er lab as he created a computer model to esti-

mate the value of solar energy under different

incentives and market scenarios.

His most recent outdoor adventure was his

marriage in October 2011, to Cari

Cunningham, held in a golden yellow grove of

aspen trees on the shores of Spooner Lake,

just east of Lake Tahoe.

“We met while I was an undergrad at

Boulder and she was doing graduate work

there,” he says. “We did that long distance

thing for two years while I got my masters at

MIT, but it was with the clear understanding

that I was going to come back out here and

join her.”

Being with Cari, an assistant professor of

dance at University of Nevada, has kept

Trannon close to the dance scene he loves. “I

often get to be the extra body in a production

Cari is working on,” he says. They are current-

ly rehearsing a dance duet which they have

been invited to perform at the Jacob’s Pillow

Dance Festival in Massachusetts.

As for his science skills, Trannon now uses

them as a data modeling analyst for Clear

Capital, creating computer models that assess

the quality of real estate appraisals and sur-

veys for quality control.

“It may seem a long way from solar energy

to real estate, but the modeling experience I

learned at MIT is widely applicable in any field,

so I can go in many different directions with

the knowledge I have now,” he says. “That’s a

pretty exciting thought.”

Pleased to Envision Many Possibilities

Alumni Profile: Trannon Mosher, ‘01by Marsha Green, CFS Trustee


Erich Huang, ’86, would like to see advancesin science and medicine discovered, validated, and improved in the same open, collaborative way that computer programmershave built LINUX. To that end, he recentlyjoined Sage Bionetworks, a nonprofitgenomic research think tank that advocatesfor open science. We asked him to reflect onthe path he has taken to this current job.

You were a ‘lifer’ at CFS, graduating in

1986. When did you decide what you want-

ed to do after CFS?

Not until well after I had graduated. I alwaysenjoyed the sciences, and in fact I wasobsessed with Charles Darwin, the HMSBeagle, and all things related to Darwin inMiddle School. But during Upper School, JimHenderson and Bob Fulks turned me on to lit-erature and history. Bob, in particular, was giv-ing me college level work in civil war historiog-raphy in Upper School. When I went toHarvard I was only interested in history and lit-erature. As late as my senior year at Harvard,I was still planning on doing a Ph.D. inEnglish. And then I suddenly realized that Iwanted to have some practical influence onthe world as well. So after I graduated fromHarvard I took some premed classes to seehow it would go, and that led to an education-al decade at Duke in medicine

What turned you on to genomics?

While I was doing an OB/GYN rotation in medschool at Duke, I had to choose a topic for apresentation. That was just about the timethat Andrew Futreal and others were publiciz-ing their findings about the BRCA1 & 2 genes

that make certain women more susceptible tobreast cancer. I presented on that, and thenotion of genomics triggered my curiosity. Iended up getting a Ph.D. in genomics in2002, a year before I got my M.D. degree.Then I stayed at Duke to do my general sur-gery residency, and joined the faculty at Dukein 2008. I stayed there until June of 2011,when I came out here to Seattle to join SageBionetworks.

How did your CFS education influence

this journey?

I think CFS enabled this journey by allowingme to become intellectually omnivorous. Inever felt wedded to just one discipline andCFS gave me the intellectual ability to go anyway I wanted to. I also think that my comfortwith the idea of open science probably wasinfluenced by the emphasis on collaborationat CFS. I’d say there is probably a lot of CFSDNA in my thinking.

What are you hoping to accomplish at

Sage Bionetworks?

Our dream is to get to a point where thou-sands of genomic data analysts can work inan open source environment and build robustmethods to model human diseases and betterpredict which treatments will work for whichpeople.

Up to this point, medicine has had a verycookie cutter approach: we give the samemedication to lots of people, but we don’thave a way of predicting who will respond welland who won’t. We just say it works for theaverage patient. Genomics has given us thetechnology to look at genes, the genes beingexpressed, and the thousands of permuta-

tions of these things to start dividing up thatvery monolithic group of patients into sub-groups so we can pre-identify which patientswill benefit from specific treatments, and why.

We believe we are entering a paradigmshift where people will realize that we canmake faster progress and more effectivetranslation of scientific discoveries to the bed-side by being collaborative. Currently, fundingfor medical discoveries does not encouragecollaboration: funds are generally given toone principal investigator. We think that open-ing up data sets and analysis so that others inthe scientific community can look at the data,look at how we did the analysis, reproduce itentirely and then maybe say ‘hey, I’ve got abetter way of doing this,’ will speed up scien-tific discovery. The human genome is publiclyavailable. But the experimental data aboutdisease biology and disease models alsoneeds to be available.

Part of what we do at Sage Bionetworks isbully pulpit work, trying to convince the publicthat open science is a good idea. But we arealso creating a web platform that will allowpeople to share their data and analysis. Wehave the functionality also to share the com-puter code we use to analyze the data as well.This is important because with genomics, youare dealing with massive amounts of data. Itis important to know the tools researchers areusing to analyze the data.

What’s the most common barrier to under-

standing this concept of open science?

The sheer complexity of the data. Yesterday I was showing my wife a small

data set from 300 patients who have coloncancer. That means we are looking at about

There’s Plenty of CFSDNA in His Thinking

Alumni Interview with Erich Huang, ‘86by Marsha Green, CFS Trustee

continued on page 18


After 25 Years of High Tech,What Comes Next?

Alumni Interview with Rebecca Laszlo, ‘86by Marsha Green, CFS Trustee

CFS gave Rebecca Laszlo an early introduction to computer science – an interest thatpropelled her into a 25year career in thehigh tech industry. She now lives in Seattlewith her partner of 26 years, SaraIntriligator, and recently shared with We &Thee some of her life’s journey.You graduated from CFS over 30 years

ago. When you picture CFS in your mind’s

eye, what do you see?

The stream. I was playing in that creek fromthe time I was six until I was 17.

When were you last on campus?

I visited last year and I couldn’t believe myeyes. So much has changed. But I shouldn’tbe surprised. When I was in Lower School,they were building the Middle School building.When I was in Middle School they were build-ing the Upper School. I was about four or fiveyears behind each new building.

Which teachers at CFS were particularly

influential for you?

In Lower School I loved B.J. McNeil. She wasvivacious and had a huge afro, and at myearly age I just really liking being with her. InMiddle School, with Henry Walker, you couldalways take risks and never worry aboutfalling on your face. And in Upper School, I’dhave to say Mark Goodwillie was very influen-tial. He taught sciences, but his avocation wasrace car driving. He would talk about drivingand then turn it into a physics problem, so hewas teaching us science but also aboutdefensive driving. He also gave me advice onlife skills and good behavior in a very non-threatening way. It was clear that he saw me

as a whole person.

What special experiences at CFS do you

remember?

In 1978 two of my Upper School teachers,John Ferguson and Tom Keyserling, led five15- and 16-year-olds on a six-week bicycletrip from Durham to Vermont. I bought an old10-speed for $75 and learned to ride it loadedwith camping gear. I loved the camaraderieand the teamwork. That trip changed my lifefor the better. It literally ended my childhoodshyness.

You’ve spent your career working in high

technology. What got you interested in

computer science?

When I was in Middle School, before mostkids had ever seen a computer, HarrietHopkins arranged for our class to go to Dukeand write programs in BASIC on punch cards.The programs were inconsequential – mostlyusing loops to print out patterns. But it was afantastic way to put the linear thinking of mathto use, and getting the computer to do yourbidding was a great accomplishment. Thatclass, combined with my summer job at Duke,turned me on to computer science, which iswhat I majored in at Brandeis University.

Where did computer science take you?

The first place it took me after college was LosAngeles. I didn’t like my first job – I was work-ing on a spy satellite for Rockwell International– but I gained incredibly valuable skills in data-base systems that I leveraged the rest of mycareer.

From Rockwell International I went toDigital Equipment Corporation and designed

large-scale database systems. In 1994, I went to Microsoft. Back then, it

was a third the size it is today. My job asMicrosoft’s first data architect supportingHuman Resources was to integrate all the dif-ferent systems cobbled together to do basicHR functions. During my first five years therewe reduced the systems from 65 to 12. I alsospent time at Microsoft in product develop-ment, working on the SQL Server databaseproduct, which is Microsoft’s third most prof-itable product.

Now what?

I am moving myself into my second career. Iwant to use my program management skills tohelp solve problems that plague society. I’mtaking a two-year sabbatical [from paid posi-tions] to do major projects for non-profits todecide what issues and roles most interestme. I’ve been working with the TechnologyAccess Foundation (techaccess.org), whichprovides Science, Technology, Engineering,and Math education for kids of color in thisregion. I organized 76 volunteers as the vol-unteer chair for the American CancerSociety’s third annual ACS gala last year. AndI’m doing systems work and fundraising forBuilding Changes (buildingchanges.org),which gives grants to fund innovative solu-tions to end homelessness.

Some particularly exciting work I’m doing iswith the Committee to End Homelessness inKing County (CEHKC.org). I’m serving as theprogram manager for a workgroup of 16 lead-ers of local nonprofit and governmental agen-cies dealing with low-income immigrants andrefugees to consider how best to keep thesegroups from becoming homeless. There is a

continued on page 18


lot of political will here in our region toward endinghomelessness. An effective coalition has formedand everyone is trying to row in the same direction.

How did CFS influence your career?

I blossomed at CFS because I was self-motivat-ed, curious, and excited to learn. It was easy for ateacher or a student to turn me on to somethingnew. But I was also very affected by the civil rightsorigins of the school and its commitent to diversity.I went to school with adopted Vietnamese orphansand with African-Americans and with kids withoutmany financial resources. And when I learned howmany of my teachers had been conscientiousobjectors or had served jail time during the strugglefor civil rights, I developed an early appreciation forhow people are willing to stand up for what theybelieve in. These were people I knew personallywho had seen an injustice and were willing to giveup their personal safety and freedom and speakout for what had to be done.

I’m not a Quaker, but the teaching of human dig-nity, the use of silence, and the practice of takingyour introspective self seriously were important forme.

55,000 genes across 300 patients, or more than16 million datapoints. Being able to explain topeople how to shrink those 16 million data pointsdown to a yes or no decision about whether a drugwill work or not is very difficult.

Besides work, what are you passionate about?

My wife and three young children: Madeleine isalmost 5, Neila is almost 3, and Vincent was bornin August, 2011. My family takes up whatever timeand passion I can give them.

Readers can learn more about SageBionetworks at sagebase.org.

Erich Huangcontinued from page 16

Rebecca Laszlocontinued from page 17

students (see Chris Firpo’s Glimpse), our UpperSchool students enjoy opportunities in the state’sSummer Ventures in Science and Math program,Howard Hughes summer fellowships, and otherinternships in university labs, as observed by par-ent Dan Kenan in his reflection on how well pre-pared his own children are for the challengesthey’ll face in the chapters of their lives after CFS.

Winter Alumni Events

We are always delighted to welcome alumni back in December and January. As

has been true in recent years, a group of talented performers gathered for a New

Year’s production, this time The Elephant Man. Pictured at right: director Kiernan

McGowan with Andrew Meriwether, Eric Love, Siobhan McGowan, David Berger-

Jones, Ben Hattem, Josh Hattem, Sam Robinson, Leah Wilks, Lucius Robinson,

Emily Anderson, and Aubrey Griffith.

After school reopened, a panel came on Wednesday evening to talk with parents

about Life After CFS (Becky Tate, Caroline Winterhoff, Sarah Rubin, Annie Segrest,

Sam Schopler, Hannah Anderson-Baranger, Anna Jaffe, and John Richardson). On

Friday, a panel from the class of ‘08 (Becky Tate, Jess Downing, Sarah Butters,

Anna Jaffe, Virginia Thomas, Tyler Hall, and Anna Wilson) spoke with students, after

a wonderful lunch for them and many from our most recent graduating class.

Overviewcontinued from page 5


Dance, Inspiration, and

Dance has always been an essential part of the fabric of Carolina

Friends School: it is a woven into the curriculum from the Lower to

Upper School. In an article written in 2007 for Health & Healing mag-

azine, dance teacher Annie Dwyer offered these thoughts on why we

dance at CFS:

To dance is to experience the wholeness of body andmind in a transcendent experience. There is a “magic” to thiskind of experience that stands up there with moments whenthe breeze caresses my face in the forest or I feel my heartbeating in time with my own children. The presence andunderstanding of this magic as a vital component of movingthrough life is woven seamlessly into the lives of the commu-nity at Carolina Friends School.

Through its transcendence, dance inspires us. That inspiration is

one of the main reasons that we invited Annie’s second-period dance

class to help us shape the message for this year’s Friends of FriendsSchool campaign (part of which is pictured above). Each year we are

inspired by the more than 450 families who so generously give back

to CFS to ensure that our students have the best possible education-

al experience. We couldn’t do it without YOU.

If you are feeling inspired and have not yet made your gift to the

Friends of Friends School campaign for 2011-2012, you still can! Gifts

of all sizes are needed to help us reach our largest goal ever of

$370,000.

It is easy to make a gift: Please dance your way to the nearest com-

puter and visit cfsnc.org/donatenow to make a secure donation today.

Don’t miss your chance to see the “thank you” message that these

creative young people helped to shape. Their smiling faces are proof

of our gratitude for your support of CFS!

by Rebecca Swartz, Annual Fund Coordinator

Please stay updated by following us on Twitter at CarolinaFriendsand on Facebook at CarolinaFriends and Quaker Dome (alumni).


Meet Our New Staff andDawn Douglass (Technology) has devoted ten

years to jobs that

have allowed her to

share her technologi-

cal savvy with non-

profit groups. She

grew up in Rhode

Island, and she and

her husband Jason

are parents of

Keegan, who is now

14. Dawn loves

libraries and schools,

and she enjoys reading, writing, hiking, and

watching documentary films. She belongs to a

homesteading group.

Judith Hawkes (US) has worked at CFS since

2008 as a library assistant, substitute teacher,

and member of the Summer Programs staff.

She is currently doing a stint as a guest teacher

of humanities in the Upper School. When not

teaching at CFS, Judith writes (she is the

author of three novels, with a fourth underway)

and teaches martial arts for Durham Parks and

Recreation.

Jonathan Henderson (US) is a multi-instru-

mentalist and music

educator with a

musical vocabulary

rooted in the tradi-

tions of American

jazz, old time music,

and the popular and

traditional musics of

Brazil, Cuba, and

West Africa. He

taught for several

years at the

Greensboro Montessori school before return-

ing to the Triangle, and has been teaching

music in various capacities at CFS for the past

three years. He is a co-founder of West African

dance band Diali Cissokho and Kairaba, art/

performance collective INVISIBLE, found

sound performance collective Zafar, and com-

munity marching band Cakalak Thunder. His

other collaborations include Paperhand Puppet

Intervention, Midtown Dickens, Club Boheme,

and the Onyx Club Boys. He holds a B.A. in

Sociology/ Anthropology with a concentration

in Music from Guilford College. Jonathan is

also a proud graduate of CFS.

Anna Lynch (MS Learning Specialist) comes

to CFS with 26 years of experience in educa-

tion. She holds a B.S. from the University of

Virginia and an M.Ed. from North Carolina

State University, both in Special Education.

Anna has had a vari-

ety of experiences

in her career includ-

ing teaching in pub-

lic schools, running

a home daycare

business, working

for UNC-CH in

assessment, adjunct

teaching at NCSU,

and operating a

tutoring and consult-

ing business for chil-

dren with special needs. Anna will support dif-

ferentiating instruction in all Middle School

classes in addition to teaching several classes

herself. Anna enjoys reading, kayaking, bicycle

riding, and spending time with friends and fam-

ily.

Kiernan McGowan (US) graduated from

George Washington University magna cumlaude in 2009 with

departmental hon-

ors in Archaeology

and Theatre. He

has worked as an

actor with the

B l o o m s b u r g

Theatre Ensemble,

the Bare Theatre

Company, and the

Delta Boys Theatre

Company. Kiernan

has also taught at

North Carolina Governor’s School West, Our

Time Theatre Company, and Act One Act Now

Theatre Company. He began guest teaching

Exploratorium classes in the CFS Middle

School in 2008 and now leads the Upper

School theatre program. Additionally, he enjoys

music, movies, baseball, cooking, and histori-

cal novels.

Alejandro Moreiras-

Vilaros (MS) joins our

staff full-time after

having taught a few

electives last year. He

holds a Master of Arts

in Religious Studies

from The Hebrew

University in

Jerusalem and a

Bachelor of Arts from

Hampshire College

with a Five College Certificate in Middle East

Studies. In his position as Middle School Social

Studies teacher he incorporates his love of his-

tory and international relations into everything

he does. He works on diverse themes that

range from an immigrant’s experience at Ellis

Island to Spanish Culture to Middle Eastern

marvels and quagmires. Alejandro has a lovely

wife, a cat named Pita, and a puppy named

Buster.

Abby Obando Snow (LS Spanish and After-

Hours Coordinator)

grew up in Durham

and Efland and

graduated from

Western Carolina

University. After liv-

ing in Florida for a

while, Abby returned

to NC, and she has

worked with CFS

Summer Programs

for a few years now.

Abby’s son Sebastien is a student in Sky

Class, and her partner Jamie Charles teaches

in MIddle School. She enjoys music of all kinds

(and is learning to play the banjo), as well as

reading, dancing, camping, and singing.

Williette Y. Zigbuo-Vaagbay (Campus Early

School) graduated

from Berea College

with a bachelor’s

degree in Child and

Family Studies and an

emphasis in Early

Childhood Education.

Williette received her

Master’s in Special

Education from Bay

Path College in

B u r l i n g t o n ,

Massachusetts and

has over 15 years of teaching experience in the

U.S. and in Liberia, West Africa. In addition to

her passion for teaching, she finds personal

fulfillment by helping educational programs in

Liberia; Williette has been instrumental in

mobilizing others to help obtain donations and

school supplies for orphanages and schools

there. Whenever she returns from Africa, she

finds that sharing pictures and discussing her

trip is rewarding for herself and her students, to

help them understand and see the world out-

side their community, neighborhoods, and the

United States.

We & Thee is published twice a year by

Carolina Friends School4809 Friends School Road

Durham, NC 27705

Mike Hanas, PrincipalAnthony L. Clay, Editor

Kathleen Davidson, Associate EditorDoug Johnston, Designer

Laura Shmania, Staff PhotographerInterviews by Marsha Green, CFS Trustee


Carolina Friends School has added six new members to its

Board of Trustees. Anne Micheaux Akwari is a physician and

lawyer who is principal of a healthcare consulting firm and

adjunct faculty at Duke University School of Medicine; she is

also a member of Durham Friends Meeting and mother of alum

Chidi Akwari. Matt Drake served on the CFS Board before

becoming the School's Development Coordinator, retiring in

2010 after 18 years. CFS alumna Hopie Fulkerson Mooney

(‘97) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a practicing Child

and Family Therapist at Duke University and in Chapel Hill. Her

classmate John Richardson works in the Office of

Sustainability for the Town of Chapel Hill, where he helps to

develop programs, policies, and initiatives for enhancing orga-

nizational and community sustainability. Biochemist Chari

Smith (mother of Kathryn Diamant ’11) does diabetes research

at Glaxo Smith Kline and is currently Biology Leader, North

America, for Discovery Partnerships with Academia. A former

USAID officer, Buffie Webber is now a Chapel Hill Realtor and

member of Chapel Hill Friends Meeting.

TrusteesEdith Smith, shown cele-

brating her 100th birthday,

passed away in

December at age 103.

The mother of CFS co-

founder Martha Klopfer,

she was one of the

School's earliest benefac-

tors, and we are deeply

grateful for her almost 50

years of support.

In Memoriam

A minute of appreciation in memory of Edith Smith

Edith Jayne Smith, a beloved supporter of Carolina

Friends School and mother of trustee emerita Martha

Klopfer, died on November 19, 2011, in Santa Barbara,

California, at the age of 103.

The Board of Trustees of Carolina Friends School min-

utes our deep appreciation for the life of Edith Smith and

her ongoing support of the School.

In addition to offering moral support to Martha and

Peter Klopfer and other founders of CFS, Edith served on

a foundation that awarded a $6,000 grant that helped

fund the first year of the school’s existence in 1964. She

has continued to support the school for nearly half a cen-

tury, including establishing the Edith and Lloyd Smith

Fund in 2001 (in memory of her late husband) to further

diversity among staff.

CFS was one of many wonderful causes and institu-

tions Edith showered with wisdom and support. We are

deeply grateful for her support of Carolina Friends

School, and inspired by her faithfulness to the vision of

the school.

Approved January 10, 2012

This past fall the Upper School boys’ soccer team joined last year’s girls’ basketball team to become the second team in our athletic

history to play in a state championship game. The team came into the game undefeated, but lost 3-0 to Fayetteville Academy.

Almost half the students in Middle and Upper Schools participated in a fall sport. Go Quakers!

Fall 2011 Athletics Update


It Really Was a Banner Year at CFS


Upper School Athletics HighlightsCross-CountryBoth the girls’ and the boys’ teams participated in the state meet,

the first time that has ever happened.

All-Conference Anna Kenan, Mac Schilder

Boys’ SoccerRegular season Triad Athletic Conference champions

TAC tournament champions

#2 seed and eventual state tournament runners-up

All-Conference Isaac Dalsheimer, Esten Fabec

Nick MacLeod, Dani Meyer-Arrivillaga

Conference coach of the year Jim Mathewson

All-State Isaac Dalsheimer, Dani Meyer-Arrivillaga

Girls’ TennisTAC tournament runners-up

6th place in the state tournament

All-Conference Clara Hazlett-Norman, Ellie McDonald

VolleyballTAC regular season runners-up (tie), #8 state tournament seed

All-Conference Natasha Anderson, Anna McClain, Zoe Vernon

All-State Anna McClain

Middle School Athletics HighlightsCross-CountryGirls – 2nd place in the Central Carolina Middle School Conference

championship meet

Boys – 2nd place in the CCMSC championship meet

Boys’ SoccerRegular season CCMSC champions

CCMSC tournament champions

All-Conference Dillon Lanier, Seth Lee, Holden Stefan

Girls’ TennisCCMSC tournament runners-up

All-Conference Rainie Heck

VolleyballAll-Conference Zoe Scretchings

Some teams hit the practice fields in the dog days of August,skies bleached, heat like a flatiron on the tired grass, and rightaway you know it: These boys are going to win some games.

Win they did. For the first time in CFS history, the UpperSchool boys varsity soccer team went undefeated, winning all13 regular season games. The Quakers carried their winningstreak into the post-season, stacking up victories and ultimate-ly defeating Westchester Country Day School to win the TriadAthletic Conference Championship. After that it was on to theN.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association (category 2A)State Cup, where again the team played strong, going all theway to the championship game before losing 3-0 to FayettevilleAcademy.

The 19-member squad was led by captains IsaacDalsheimer, Dani Meyer-Arrivillaga, and Nick MacLeod. JakeWilhelm-Hilkey was in goal. CFS All-Conference players wereIsaac Dalsheimer, Esten Fabec, Nick MacLeod, and DaniMeyer-Arrivallaga; Dani and Isaac were also named All-State.CFS head coach Jim Mathewson won Conference Coach of theYear.

“We set goals and the boys met them,” Coach JimMathewson said at a post-season celebration. Mathewson toldthe players they had proved themselves during the fall seasonand that, with only one senior graduating, next year looks prom-ising. “You’ll have a target on your backs,” Mathewson said,noting that the Quakers will be the team to beat in the 2012season.

Highlights of the season included two close matches againstThe Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill as well as pitchedbattles against Greensboro’s Caldwell Academy andWestchester Country Day School from High Point. PlayingWestchester for the conference championship in Greensboro,CFS found itself down by two at the half, but evened the scoreby the end of regulation play. A hard strike by wing DougMacLeod in double overtime won the game.

Fingernails suffered again in the State Semifinals, when CFSand Caldwell Academy ended regulation play 1-1. In the sec-ond overtime CFS striker Dani Mayer-Arrivillaga hit the back ofthe net with a beautiful top-of-the-box shot, ending the game at2-1. Keeper Jake Wilhelm-Hilkey dove, punched, leaped andtipped and otherwise defied gravity to save numerous goals.

Overall, the Quakers, led by Mathewson and assistant coachEdwin Wotorsi, found themselves up against a variety of chal-lenges, packed defenses, off-side traps, and talented opposi-tion among them. Through it all, they played a smart passinggame, using their wings to great effect while relying on a strong,quick defense to keep their opponents out of the net. The mid-field was a fabulous combination of skill, magic, and pure scrap.

No wonder the team drew an ever-larger following of stu-dents, parents, and staff as the season advanced. They wereflat-out fun to watch. True to CFS philosophy, the boys playedwith integrity and sportsmanship, holding respect and excel-lence above the desire to win at any cost. Having maintainedthese principles in an overall 19-1 season, the boys varsity soc-cer team has shown that the inner light can illuminate a mightypowerful soccer team.

by CFS parent and journalist Melinda Ruley.

The Boys of Summer. And the Fall.

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On being a CFS sports fan

by Jane Satter

Jane is mother of three CFS athletescholars (Nate, ‘09, nowat University of Rochester, and twins Zoe and Molly, ‘12,headed for Winthrop and Furman Universities.)

I am a CFS sports fan. I am also a proud parent, coach’s

wife, physician, and member of the athletic liaison committee.

Over the past decade, my kids have played on every CFS

sports team except ultimate frisbee and swimming. I have

watched the CFS sports culture evolve; our outstanding stu-

dent-athletes have proven that excellence in sports is congru-

ent with Quaker values. At home in our flagship gym and

away at other schools, they serve as emissaries from our

school into the larger community, demonstrating sportsman-

ship and respect for others.

As my CFS tenure nears its end, I want to express my

gratitude to our children collectively, to their caring coaches,

and to the School for all the athletic programs offered. Many

of my most joyful parental moments were spent watching our

kids play their hearts out on the basketball court or soccer

field.

The virtues of kids playing sports are numerous. As team

members, kids learn how to lose, to work together, and to

focus on a common goal, while simultaneously becoming

physically fit and challenging their bodies. As obesity rates

and “screen time” in our culture rise, what better way for a

child to spend his or her afternoon than running around with

friends playing a sport. Rather than extolling the virtues of

sports for kids, my focus here is on how great the CFS athlet-

ics program has been for me as an adult in the community.

The window into our teenagers’ lives begins to close as

they become more independent. Sitting on the bleachers, we

literally and figuratively watch them grow up. The emotional

outburst we see in a Middle Schooler when the game does-

n’t go her way is all but gone in Upper School. The underhand

volleyball serve that can’t seem to find its way over the net

transforms into an overhand rocket. We watch our kids fall

down, pick themselves up, and pick each other up. As par-

ent volunteers, driving to and from games, we hear what’s on

our kids’ minds and what’s happening in their lives.

Through athletics, we as parents build community. We

work together to support our athletes by providing food,

transportation, and scorekeeping. In the stands, we cheer,

laugh, and marvel. In more relaxed one-sided games, we talk

about our work and family lives and solve the world’s prob-

lems. As our kids bond on the court, we bond as well.

My youngest children are Upper School seniors this year,

and our long CFS family journey is winding down. Nostalgia

sweeps over me each time I enter the gym. I will sorely miss

watching my kids and their peers play with my parent peers,

yet there is solace in knowing I can watch CFS athletes for

years to come.

Fall Sports Day at CFS


MLK Day @ CFS.2012

we & thee, winter 2012

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