Summer 1988 - Hammonassetschool.com
Transcription
Summer 1988 - Hammonassetschool.com
The Hammonasset School Summer 1988 rumors. He said almost nothing, except to explain that he and Marlene were going to do a self-portrait. Their creation turned outto be a finger painting that Jackson Pollack would have been proud of. When their hands were covered with every color possible, they hugged each other. Ted then walked to the podium, picked up his diploma, and began to set one corner of it aflame with a Bic lighter. Quickly he stopped, before any damage had been done, grinning as he walked of the stage: "Scaredja, didn't I?" Graduation 1988 "... 1could come back to Hammonasset any time, in my dreams, in real life, and always be convinced it was a great place for human beings." Graduation Speeches. Tammy Green talks about her daughter Laurie at this year's ceremony while Laurie (second from left) and family look on. Returning to Hammonasset I started getting weepy even before Don Grace got up there and started his opening lines. The food's good, the spirits are high, everybody has forgotten whatever bad moments may have come up during the year. Things truly got started for me with Chris Anderson's presentation. Don Barkin was speaking for him, and noted quickly that Chris was one of the few people he's had to throw out of his class ("most people left on their own"). The explanation was simple: "Chris was funnier and more interesting than I was." Don went on to compare Chris to a balloon with air escaping through a stretched-out mouth. Chris is like the high-pitched whine, backed by the intense energy which could let go at any moment and fly uncontrollably all over the room. After such a release, everything is flat for a while. According to Don B., that's what may happen at Hammonasset next year if somebody doesn't replace Chris. Jecca was next. I had never seen her before, and I judged her too quickly. After a few standard testimonies about how wonderful everything was, she asked her parents to stand up. "Now I'd like everyone to clap for them," she said. It was genuine. She wasn't just doing it like an actress would at the Academy Awards. My first exposure to Ted Barber lived up to the expectations I'd formed from letters and Bud L. said something about how Mike Campbell had been spotted participating in a group backrub, despite Mike's constantly professed rejection of Hammonasset's touchy-feely side. Tom Clinton began his own remarks with a small sign that read "APPLAUSE" on one side and "QUIET" on the other. Stephanie Davis' yearbook page, an open letter describing her feelings about race relations at the school, was read aloud with perfect appropriateness by Sousan. Then came the one that really caught my throat. This was when I knew I could come back to Hammonasset any time, in my dreams, in real life, and always be convinced it was a great place for human beings. No- (continued on page 2) A videotape of the 1988 graduation is available at a cost of $29. The tape, which was produced by Jay Hawley of Hawley Productions, can be ordered by phone (889-3465) or by writing to: Hawley Productions, 25 Park Street, Norwich, CT. Please enclose a check made out to Hawley Productions for the correct amount. 2 Headmaster's Letter As a teacher of U.S. History, I am looking forward to offering an elective in the fall on the presidency. One of the books I will be using is Ted White's The Making Of A President Nineteen Sixty, in part because I am interested in how the political landscape has changed in the last quarter century. Of those changes, the relationship between political activism and youthful drug use is one of the more intriguing ones. The decade of the 1960's was a turning point for our nation. Key political leaders were assassinated, our involvement in Southeast Asia waxed and waned dramatically, and a counterculture movement was spawned. Two ofthe central elements ofthat counterculture were drug experimentation and political activism, particularly regarding the Vietnam War. In many ways, marijuana use came to be a symbol for those under 30 of a willingness to look at the world in new ways and to reject traditional notions of politics, war and patriotism. Youthful drug use and political opposition to the war became, in some ways, interdependent. The decade of the 1980's has been a different story. It is not simply that all the major aspirants to the presidency have embraced anti-drug rhetoric (following the lead from the minority community that drugs siphon off energies for political and economic improvement). More importantly, there is no popular connection being made between drug usage and political activism. Enough elements of the 1960's counterculture have been absorbed into mainstream American life that the counterculture has ceased to exist as a separate entity. (Also, in the absence of a unifying negative issure like Vietnam, no set of positive political goals captured the minds and hearts of counterculture folks.) If anything, the popular wisdom now seems to be that drug usage and experimentation are antagonistic to political involvement, particularly from th~ emerging adults in our society. "It matters little which candidates we elect.. .if we cannot support and guide our elected officials with widespread political involvement." As Head of The Hammonasset School, I share some of the concerns of popular wisdom on this. I worry that just as drug (including alcohol) use has made many of our adolescents passive learners, so that same drug use will produce a generation of political non-participants. Republican forms of government do not survive or flourish without an informed and active citizenry, and America is no exception. It matters little which candidates we elect this fall or any other fall if we cannot support and guide our elected officials with widespread political involvement. For the sake of American life as it should be shaped, I hope adolescent energies will not be so diverted by ongoing drug/alcohol use. Our youth and our nation deserve better than that. - Donald Grace (Returning to Hammonasset cont.) body was going to take my glow from me now. And I didn't even know this student before, never laid eyes on her. Amy DeStefano. Maybe you know something about her past. I didn't. I just sat there with my jaw dropping down, listening to my heart pound, smiling wider and wider, as her little sister, the only other one up there at the podium, about age twelve, started in on a speech with a little kid voice but no trace of nervousness: "OK, I'm Amy's sister, and I like wanted to say a few of the words that come to mind when I think about Amy, so I sort of wrote a poem about her. It's called "Sister." Maybe you know me well enough to know that I'm bought by little kid's voices. They transport me directly to Central Park in New York, where Holden is watching Phoebe go for the gold ring at the carousel. "Crazy kids," I think, "they can do no wrong." Cynicism and disparagement about the world completely drain from my body when I first catch wind of voices that sound like Amy DeStefano's sister's voice. She had me. The poem was simply a list. "SISTERFunny. Smiling. Strange. Honest. Beautiful. Fun ... " Little kid words. Nothing fancy. "Interesting. Smart ... " No hero worship, just pure and simple admiration. "Hard-working. Loud ... " Through the whole poem you could feel a tone that said, "she wasn't like this a couple of years ago." Pretty soon I didn't even hear the words any more, the rhythm was so beautiful, the words so heartfelt and confident. "... Loving." I just about lost it. The tears were right at the edge. James Drobynk's name was announced, and he bounced up out of the back row as though he had just gotten the chance to play "Wheel of Fortune." He just picked up the goods, checked the signature, and said "Thanks alot" before jogging back to his chair. Don Barkin read a great poem for Kate Florey: The Good Student I only know when we went out to the woods to fathom the autumn sky, she found more in the clouds than I and thanked me, though I can't think why. When Justin Gunn walked up with his parents, emotions were running higher for me than ever. Justin remains my hero since I watched him nestle a soccer ball into the upper right corner of an impossibly-guarded net, while playing as a freshman for the Guilford High School state championship team. Like lots of people who have watched him operate, I'm a slave to his charm and poetic movement. His procrastination and unused potential are easy to overlook when you're face-to-face with him. So when his mom read a poem, which touched on, among other things, his skateboarding and his habit of greeting people with the word, "Yo," I was almost limp. But then his dad took the mike and really got to me. "There are two entities," he began, "which have made it here tonight." Emphasis on the "entity" part. "One of them almost had to get out. And the other almost had to drop out." A few more words of praise and explanation. "But I am really proud," he wrapped up, "of both the school and the student for succeeding here. My congratulations to both." I was a puddle. They had to mop me up. It was too much for me already, and we hadn't even gotten through the H's in the alphabet yet. A few more light moments. Anna Hoberman gushing. Paul Birdsall imitating Brett Kronberg's hair-combing. Margriet Mitchell's father talking about his first visit to the school: 'We arrived about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I gather that's the time you all call happy hour around here." His sincerity in talking about the change in his daughter over two years (not to mention the change in him) might have been the best publicity statement ever issued about Hammonasset. Jeremy Pinchot's father said that four years had helped him feel more like Jeremy's friend than like his father. He gave Ham- (continued on page 4) 3 A Hammonasset Spring Spring on the field. A finer moment for this year's Lacrosse team. Graduation. Seniors Margriet Mitchell (second from left) and Eva Weisbrod (far right) celebrate at the Graduation Picnic with teacher Deac Etherington and Vicki Abel. Spring on the courts. Tennis team member Andy Cober struts his stuff on the court. <·· Students recognized for artwork. From left: Jennifer Hellen (second place in photography, Shoreline Alliance for the Arts' Future Choices '88); Eva Weisbrod (John Slade Ely House Prize for her woodblock print in the Greater New Haven Area High School Students' Art Exhibition); Anna Tessler (Little Apple Show Award for her drawing, Future Choices); Heather Bradley (second place in drawing, Future Choices); Sean Bien (Viewer's Choice Award for his photograph, Future Choices); Ted Barber (First Place in both painting and prints, Future Choices). A bevy of Madison Rotary Scholars. From left to right, Jeremy Pinchot, Tom Clinton, Ted Barber, Stephanie Davis, Kate Florey and Zeb O'Neil Not pictured: Heather Bradley Earth Day. Simon Clifton and teacher Sousan Arafeh take a wailing at the Save the Whale Booth on the Ecology Class sponsored Earth Day. Proceeds from the booth will go towards adopting a whale. Harvard Book Prize. Harvard Alum DonGracepresentsStephanieGeorge with the Harvard Book Prize. 4 Some Poems About Some Graduates The main business at Hammonasset graduations is that seniors can ask faculty, friends or parents to speak for them when they get their diplomas. English teacher Don Barkin responded by writing the following poems: "*** *** *** Poem What they want always is to find truth, as a compass wants to know North, as a falling leaf finds the earth. Like compass and leaf they are unaware that this is their nature, and that it's rare to hunt the truth as if it were there. Maybe one in a hundred will stand at a well and stare down in the dark to the bottom until something deep glimmers, coin or shell. Old fool, young brute, pretty face: they wear many disguises in many places. But all descend of the same sparse race who love what's so because it's so and believe it is possible to know. *** IN MEMORIAM Thane Fatone 1970 - 1988 A Little Teaching (is the right amount) A flower knows what it needs to know - to love the sun and bloom slow and suffer frost and zealous rays. It knows these things from its earthlodged days. And it makes a gardener a better man who tends his plot as best he can though chill and drought (when love is duty) till q. flower can say what it knows of beauty. *** (NOTE: The poem "The Good Student" is included in John Henderson's article, "Returning to Hammonasset'~ P-------------------------~ The graduates and their plans for next year are: Joyce Arafeh (Evergreen State University), Chris Anderson (undecided), Jecca Auchterlonie (undecided), Ted Barber (Art Institute of Chicago), Heather Bradley (College of Wooster), Sarah Bramhall (Northeastern University), Mike Campbell (Susquehanna University), Tom Clinton (University of Notre Dame), Mike Conway (Eastern Connecticut State University), Stephanie Davis (Academy of Business Careers), Amy DeStefano (undecided), James Drobnyk (undecided), Kate Florey (Oberlin College), Jill Goldstein (undecided), Laurie Green (undecided), Justin Gunn (undecided), Jennifer Hellen (undecided), Michelle Henderson (Fashion Institute of Technology), David Hennessey (Southern Connecticut State University), Anna Hoberman (Connecticut College), Mada Holtzman (University of the Pacific), Brett Kronberg (Southern Connecticut State University), Martin Lewis (Norwich University), Greg Lowrey (University of Connecticut), Mike Macionus (Clark University), Margriet Mitchell (Lynchburg University), Ingrid Morral (undecided), Zeb O'Neil (Elizabethtown College), Jeremy Pinchot (Lynchburg University), lan Rogers (Gettysburg University), Kristin Sullivan (University of New Hampshire), Myriam Valderrama (undecided), Eva Weisbrod (University of Wisconsin). (co-authored by Sousan Arafeh) lan in a quiet mom: a quiet sky-a sonic boom. lan in class on the edge of his seat; he listens a bit, then jumps in with both · feet. lan when there's a small child around: he'd been lost to himself, but now he is found. lan when lan is just being he is the big calm shade of a summer tree. *** (Returning to Hammonasset cont.) monasset lots of creditforthe change. Tucker Gifford told a classic Tucker story about lan Rogers on Nantucket, concentrating on the amount of luggage (four duffel bags!) lan thought was necessary to keep himself in shorts and bare feet all summer. Finally, Sousan made a kind of summing-up of lan that could only happen at a Hammonasset graduation. For some people it was probably the highlight of the evening . "Take a look at lan," she said, leading him out from behind the podium to expose his madras jacket, short pants and bare feet. "See how lan is directly connected to the earth - there's no interference from shoes or socks or long pants. And now let me explain what happens when Ian speaks. The idea begins here -" she pointed at the ground--- and travels up to here-" the heart - "with nothing much getting in the way. Then it stops briefly to get mixed up a little bit -" she circles her fingers around where his heart was- "and then it just pops up and out -" her hand followed the direction, straight up the neck and out the mouth. It was clear she wants us to know that the brain is not involved. The description was perfect, even for those of us who knew only of lan what we had seen that night. His face and the crowd's reaction showed Sousan was right on. It was a wonderful moment. -John Henderson (Note: John Henderson taught at Hammonasset from 1982-1986. He is currently teaching at a Cambodian Refugee Camp in Thailand and attended the graduation on his recent visit to the States) I .... 5 Reflections from Bud Church, · the New Assistant Director of Admissions I have often said that The Hammonasset School is the best secondary school in Connecticut. As I turn over the admissions office to Chris Moses, I want to say it again probably not for the last time! " ... we are the best because we dare to be different in ways that really matter." This time, though, I want to say it through the words of a student who came to Hammonasset as a 9th grader two years ago, then last year transferred to a well-known boarding school in Connecticut. After a couple of months, although academically she was doing satisfactorily at the other school, she wanted to come back to Hammonasset. As part of the readmission process, I asked her to write a statement about her experience at the boarding school and why she wanted to return to Hammonasset. Below is what she wrote: "It was hard adjusting, but once I did I started to dislike it for reasons other than being away from home. The people seemed 'fake' to me always competing to have more clothes, more money, and other material things. The schedule here is so pressing. I get up at 6:00 a.m. and am moving until 11 :00 p.m.. I'm never alone, and I'm always being pushed to be somewhere else 10 minutes ago. I started to think about how at Hammonasset if I needed space, there were places to go or even people that I could deal with. I just can't get away here. The people here also seem to care too inuch about sports. They would rather see a kid make varsity than pass a course. I feel at this age I should be home, and at a school that I love very much. I miss the people, the differences in people and the style at Hammonasset. Hammonasset gave me confidence and courage to be myselfnot a copy of someone else. I felt comfortable there. I felt positive about everything when I was going there, and I'd love to feel that way again." "Space." "Confidence." "Courage." Feeling "positive" about everything. Not being "fake" but being oneself. All schools say that they give kids space in which to grow and be themselves; all schools want to develop confidence. These are the cliches of the educational world. For a variety of reasons, however, schools often don't practice what they preach even when they think they do. All too often schools get in their own way and fail in the most important lessons of all, the human lessons without which all else is hollow. The kids know when that's happening to them. Hammonasset is different; it actually practices the cliches. The kids know that, too. ""What a mistake schools make when they confuse quantity and pressure with rigor and excellence." After being back for a couple of months, I asked this student one day if she found Hammonasset easier or harder than the boarding school. She replied: "It's not a case of being 'easier' or 'harder.' I feel welcome here. I I feel relaxed. I don't get as much work but what I get I want to do right. At the other school, I just wanted to get it over with. In algebra, for instance, at the other school I'd get forty problems mostly the same and after the first few I'd hate it. I didn't care if they were right or not; I just wanted to get them done. But here Paul gives five or ten problems and I work at them trying to figure them out and get them right. It's a lot better. Besides, Paul is better at explaining things!" What a mistake schools make when they confuse quantity and pressure with rigor and excellence. Yet those are the schools that parents have been programmed to consider "the best." That brainwashing makes a really good school like Ham monas- settougher to sell. That's why word of mouth is so important to get out the good news about Hammonasset. And that's where you come in. Chris is going to need your help. Like the student above, all of you as parents and alums have your own version of the special ways Hammonasset promotes learning and positive human development. Tell people about it. Tell people about the Open Houses. And give their names to Chris. We are still uncomfortably far from our admissions goal of 55 new students. We need to take in over 20 to meet it. The good news is that we are slightly ahead of last year at this time; but we can't count on the August flurry that we had last year. So think of names, talk to people, and give Chris a call. I have found in my 31/2 years of admissions that Hammonasset sells itself once we get people to visit. It is not easy to sell in the abstract. That is one of the ironies of being the best secondary school in Connecticut; we are the best because we dare to be different in ways that really matter. But it is that very "difference" that makes outsiders suspicious until they become insiders like yourselves. Consequently, we will never stop needing your help getting people to the door. Your are the best marketing tool we have. Don't let the best school in Connecticut down. Spread the word! -Bud Church *** Fa 11 Open Houses ~ ~ Wednesday NOVEMBER - 7:309:00p.m. 2 <o '9 Sunday NOVEMBER - 6 1:303:30p.m. 6 Faculty and Staff Comings, Goings & Shifts While four valued members of the faculty and administrative staff have left, the 1988-89 school year marks an expansion in administratiion, coaching, phys. ed., academic and arts faculty-a sign of the increasing health of the school. OUT-GOING FACULTY AND STAFF: With five Hammonasset years under her belt (the past three as Director of Development) Rachel ('86) and Sarah ('88)Bramhall's mother Sharon is leaving the community to investigate the field of Human Resources. Science and math teacher Dan Dorsey, a dedicated member of the community for the past three years, is going back to school to learn how to teach- the right way. Beginning in September, he will be pursuing his Masters in teaching from Harvard, his alma mater. Fe Zamora, who spent the last year teaching Spanish, is forsaking the unpredictable New England climate and relocating under the guaranteed sunshine of Boca Raton, FL, where her husband has been transferred. After only a year along the shore, theater director Die Wheeler returns to a full-time existence in the "center of the universe"Middletown, where he is now the full-time Artistic Director for Oddfellows Playhouse. nrlUJ®@©l®l'f 9 ~@~~@UiJil[Q)@[l' ~ ~ is the opening day of school! Die Wheeler may be leaving, but... IN-COMING FACULTY AND STAFF: Joyce Birdsall (sister of phys. ed. director, coach and math teacher Paul), steps into a newly created phys. ed. and coaching position that will allow for a full-fledged female sports program. Joyce graduated from SUNY-Cortland and has taught in the Darien Public School System and at Tuxedo Park School in NY. Barbara Movahhed will be teaching Spanish part-time. Barbara, who has taught in the Guilford Public School System and in Michigan and New York public schools, received her M.A. in Education from the University of Michigan and her B.A. from Western Michigan University. The new posters on the admissions office walls signal the changing ofthe guard, as Director of Admissions Bud Church reclaims a permanent teaching bay and officially becomes Assistant Director of Admissions. Christine (Chris) Moses, fresh from a stint atthe Blake School in MN, has taken over the Admissions Office. Chris lettered in diving at the University of Oregon and graduated from Princeton University. With the hiring of Barbara Saez, the Director of Development position goes to full time. Barbara comes to us from Yale-New Haven Hospital, where she is Associate Director of Development. In addition, she has extensive experience in school development, having served as Associate Director of Development for Quinnipiac College and as Assistant Grants Administrator for Southern Con- ,._ c necticut State University. She earned both her M.A. and B.A. from Rhode Island College. Judi Sprague will teach theater and English, as well as direct the theater productions. Judi has been teaching drama at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and directing productions at Daniel Hand H.S. in Madison for the last three years, in addition to teaching at the Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan University. She has her B.A. from Sophie Newcomb College, her M.F.A. from Corpus Christi University and is currently working on her doctorate. Allan Uzwiak will teach science. Allan, who has been teaching in the Milford and Danbury Public School Systems for the past four years, was recently nominated for a number of distinguished teaching awards, including Connecticut Teacher of the Year, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Math Teaching, the Celebration of Excellence Award offered through the State Board of Education and the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award offered through the National Association of Biology Teachers. Allan attended Penn State University, graduated from the Western Connecticut University and is currently working on his Masters in Education. Excitement in the Arts Barn abounds with the threefold expansion of the optional credit private music lesson program run by Melissa Blacker. In addition to Melissa's piano, recor- ... Judi Sprague is stepping in! der and voice lessons, Tom Randall will be offering lessons in guitar, mandolin and banjo, while Sue Zoellner-Cross will be teaching bassoon, flute, clarinet, oboe and saxophone. Tom Randall earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University and is a graduate of the RobertoVenn School of Luthiery (instrument building). Tom performs throughout New England in various acoustic and electric ensembles and brings fifteen years of teaching experience to Ham me nasset. He teaches popular styles including rock, jazz, pop, blues, classical, fingerpicking and flatpicking. Tom also builds instruments in Chester, CT. Sue Zoellner-Gress holds a B.A. from the Hartt School of Music and an M.A. from the Yale School of Music. Since 1984, she has held the position of Assistant Principal Bassoonist with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Sue also performs around CT in many other orchestras and ensembles. In addition, four current faculty members will take on newly created administrative posts this fall. Ruthann Aylor will focus on faculty and student needs as Assistant Head; Bud Lichtenstein will coordinate the college counseling program as Director of College Guidance; David Rynick will be a liason for the Arts Barn folks as Coordinator of the Arts; and Sousan Arafeh will be the Coordinator of Computer Education. 7 1987-1988 Development Annual Report ALUMNIIAE Alumni/ae Art Show Digital Equipment Corp. Morgan Stanley & Co. Sarah Coletti 74 Katherine DeVinne 74 David Griswold 74 Cheryl Clark 75 Deac Etherington 75 Aleta Adkisson Griswold 75 Elizabeth Karter 75 Gael Kronenberger 75 Stephen Lafferty 75 Betsy Levine 75 Nancy Beers Marshall 75 Carol Schmitt 75 Justus Addiss 76 Viola Maxfield Bargnesi 76 Robert Hageman 76 Lynne Ide 76 Bruce Lyon 76 Marcy Matthaei 76 Dianna Miller-Noyes 76 Katharine Morse 76 Elizabeth Murphy 76 Whitney Bobbitt 77 Barbara Barrows Carnemark 77 Anne Cassidy 77 Debra Kierys Collett 77 Laura Wakem Coyne 77 Gerald Davis 77 Katharine Wakeman Forline 77 Charles Hine 77 Faith Repich McCann 77 Lisa Morris 77 Richard Riggs 77 Stephen Young 77 Susan Addiss 78 Suzanne Smith Baker 78 David Carr 78 Charles Hoblitzelle 78 Lisa Hannum Holmes 78 William McVicar 78 Alexander Murphy 78 Curt Peterson 78 John Zinsser 78 Jennifer Haggin Balboni 79 Keith Comeford 79 Diana Wakem Leonard 79 Wendy Murray 79 David Portugal 79 Lynn Frankes 80 Susan Ganley 80 David Hymer 80 Chris Lacock 80 Terry Wight 80 Brooke Adamson 81 T. Lincoln Downey 81 Eric Greimann 81 Virginia Hambley 81 Laura Miranda Hansen 81 Suzanne Morse 81 Todd Murray 81 Gabriel Chin 82 Virginia Freas 82 Todd Little 82 Heidi Ray 82 Jennifer Bennitt 83 Debra Gann 83 Thomas Landry 83 Kristen Emack 84 Dana Lowry 84 Lisa Nadel 84 Susan Romano 84 Troy Greenwald 85 Keith Marland 85 Rachel Bramhall 86 Sam Mathis 86 Kathy Sheehan 86 Heather Vaughn 86 Marla Zullo 86 Jill Sarnowski 87 Leah Lubin 87 Alice Sarsheen 87 PARENTS Dr. & Mrs. Mehadin Arafeh Mr. & Mrs. William Baskin Mr. Frank Blackford Mrs. Vivien Blackford Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Bramhall Mr. & Mrs. Roger Campbell Mary Capers Mr. & Mrs. William Chamis Dr. & Mrs. Gail Chandler Mr. & Mrs. John Ciastko Mr. & Mrs. James Clinton Mr. & Mrs. Rodney Gober Mr. & Mrs. Sally & Rob Cole-Whitten Mr. & Mrs. William Conway Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Costantini Mr. & Mrs. Carlo DiGirolamo Mr. John Drobnyk Ms. Carole Dubiell Dr. Joan Duncan (in honor of Paul Birdsall) Mr. & Mrs. John Duncan Mr. & Mrs. John Duncan Ill Mr. & Mrs. Charles Falconer Mr. & Mrs. Michael FitzGerald Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Florey Mr. & Mrs. Robert Gammons Mrs. Sandra Geaman Mr. & Mrs. Howard Gilbert Mr. & Mrs. Leopold Godowsky Mr. & Mrs. Alan Goldstein Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Goralski Mr. & Mrs. William Green Mr. & Mrs. Moses Gunn Mr. & Mrs. John Gwinnell Mrs. Phyllis Hanbury Mr. & Mrs. Travis Hedrick Mr. & Mrs. Robert Hellen Mr. & Mrs. Charles Henderson Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Hennessy Mr. & Mrs. William Hincks Mr. & Mrs. Harvey Hoberman Mr. & Mrs. Terry Holcombe Mr. & Mrs. David Huelsman Mr. & Mrs. William Hull Mr. & Mrs. Richard Johnson Attorney Frank J. Kolb, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Paul Kronberg Mr. & Mrs. Robert Lane Mr. & Mrs. Henry LeMay Mr. & Mrs. Porter Lewis, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Robert London Malcolm & Judith Luber Dr. & Mrs. Raymond Macionus Mr. & Mrs. Peter Marchese Gerry & Claire Matthews Mr. & Mrs. Armand Mauro Mr. & Mrs. Howard Miner Mr. & Mrs. Sherman Mitchell Mrs. Nancy Moroso Joyce Morral Gail Mulcahey Mrs. Denise O'Neil Mr. & Mrs. Russell Potts Mrs. Edwina Ranganathan Mr. & Mrs. Joel Reed Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Rogers Mr. & Mrs. Henry Rosenberg Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Rosenberg Mr. & Mrs. Lee Schacter Eva Shorter Mr. & Mrs. Robert Spencer Mrs. Priscilla Sugarman Mr. & Mrs. David Sullivan Drs. Jtschar and Wanda Tidhar Edwina Trentham William Trousdale and Priscilla Meyer Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Walsh Mrs. Christine Warnk Mr. & Mrs. David Weisbrod 8 1987-1988 Development Annual Report FACULTY AND STAFF GRANDPARENTS FOUNDATIONS Sousan Arafeh Mr. & Mrs. Donald Aylor Don Barkin Mr. & Mrs. Paul Birdsall Melissa Blacker Sharon Bramhall David Brown Bud Church and Sandy Lynn Daniel Cohan Dan Dorsey Mr. & Mrs. Larry Finman Mr. & Mrs. Tom Fregeau Bonnie Garmisa Mr. & Mrs. Donald Grace Delma Hueffman Sandra Kopell Janet Kresl Mr. & Mrs. Bud Lichtenstein Janet London Mr. & Mrs. Robert Mangler Mrs. Dorothy Martin Mr. & Mrs. Ray McDonnell Marina Melendez Parrish Protheroe David Rynick Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Sansone Mr. & Mrs. Richard Tucker Die Wheeler Mr. & Mrs. Joe Zamora Mr. & Mrs. James English Jean Kinne Mr. Herbert Meyer Mr. & Mrs. James Richie Rodney Robertson The Florence and John Schumann Foundation The Hunter Grubb Foundation The Maguire Foundation The Parkson Foundation · The Thomas J. Lipton Foundation TRUSTEES Mr. & Mrs. Richard Adelstein Mrs. Louise Ames Mr. & Mrs. Robert Bennitt Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Burt Mr. & Mrs. Rodney Gober Mr. & Mrs. Louis Connick Mr. & Mrs. Charles DeVinne Dr. & Mrs. Wayne Downey Mr. Edwin Etherington Mr. & Mrs. Robert Fenn Mr. & Mrs. Edward Katzenberger Claire Matthews Joyce E. Morral Mrs. Constance Pike Mr. & Mrs. Robert Rosenbaum Mrs. Hannah Spencer John Stewart, Sr. and Jacalyn Diesenhouse Mr. & Mrs. Richard Tietjen Mrs. Dorothy Stroud VanDeusen Connecticut College Seminar ALUMNI/AE PARENTS Mr. & Mrs. William Andrews Mr. & Mrs. Henry P. Bakewell, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Bramhall John A. Carr Mrs. Elisabeth Craven Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Etherington Mr. & Mrs. Richard Gifford Mr. & Mrs. Peter Karter Captain & Mrs. Earl Maxfield, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Robert McKenzie Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Murphy, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Norman Oestreicher Mr. & Mrs. Zane Ray Dr. & Mrs. Richard P. Spencer Mr. & Mrs. John Usher Mrs. Loretta Wakem The Hammonasset School wishes to thank its supporters for their generosity during 1987- 1988. FRIENDS Molly Coulter Mr. Norman Sivin MATCHING Automatic Data Processing Foundation CIGNA Foundation Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Foundation Mobil Foundation, Inc. Norton Co. Foundation, Inc. Pfizer Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. The Bristol-Myers Fund, Inc. United Technologies US Trust j 9 The Importance of Being an Alum Every year the one constituency of Hammonasset which grows in substantial numbers is the Alumni group. In June of 1974 it consisted of 22 people. In June of 1988 the number of Alumni has risen to 717. And as long as the school exists, it will keep on growing. Alumni have a relationship to their school which is unknown to anyone else. Students are IN the school, know it as it is this minute, relate to it on a day to day basis. All Alumni know that, because that's where they've been, too. But the ongoing relationship between a school and its former students is unique. There is a tie to teenage years, to individual friends among faculty and students, and even to the physical space- the Commons, the Arts Barn, the woods, the gym- that may become tenuous, (or even one that some people might just as soon forget!!!) but it never is completely broken. But Alumni have the quietest voice. You are not right 'on sight', and you have vast new commitments and interests in your lives. And you should. And we really are thrilled and pleased to hear what you are doing, and to learn from so many of you that Hammonasset is part of the reason that your lives are on the track that they are. We would like to hear from you ALL, but that won't ever happen. But from the messages that do get to Hammonasset we have a picture of the Alumni group that is exciting, busy, .and contributing in many ways to the various communities that are lucky enough to have a Hammonasset graduate in their midst. But you DO have a role in Hammonasset's life, and it's part of the process that makes the school work. Your opinions about the school- where it's going, and where it ~ be going - are part of the process that guides the changes and directions. That's one reason we're so very glad that a Hammonasset Alumna now serves as a member of the Board of Trustees. When you visit the school, or come to Reunions, or write us your news and ideas, we take what you have to say very seriously, and we put it to work. And when you share with us some of your success, in terms of the dollars which you so generously provide each year, you strengthen the school in a very specific way. We hope that you, as a graduate, or a former student at Hammonasset, think of your relationship with the school not as an obligation or a requirement- as something to be met every year- but as p. partnership between you and a very important place in your life. Hammonasset needs that partnership if it is to go on doing the remarkable and exciting job of educating fine young people, as it educated you. "... we have a picture of the Alumni group that is exciting, busy, and contributing in many ways to the various communities that are lucky enough to have a Hammonasset graduate in their midst." Hammonasset is a busy place, and things move at a pretty active pace most of the time. But we are never too busy to visist with you, by letter or phone or in person. And never, we hope, too busy to say thank you for your support and partnership whatever form it takes. *** Alumni/ae Notes SUMMER 1988 ~®U'~ c Seth Clark is living in Costa Mesa, CA, engaged in map-making work involving computers. David Griswold and his wife Aleta Adkisson Griswold ('75) are in Chapel Hill, NC. David works for Telex Computer Products in the Airlines Systems Group, and Aleta is a Registered Nurse at Duke University's Neuro Intensive Care Unit. Their son Cyrus just turned 9! They would love to hear from any Alums, and are at 315 Creeks' Edge; (919) 942-2255. ~ (@ff'/§)c Gael Kronenberger is getting married in September, and has bought a house in the South End of Hartford. She's working at United Bank and Trust as the Planning Manager. Betsy Levine by this writing will have completed her classroom hours for her apprenticeship as an electrician. "It's been a long haul!" She enjoys reading what everyone else has been doing, and wishes she weren't so far away (San Francisco) from reunions. (We do too.) Nancy Beers Marshall is actively involved in a therapeutic horse back riding program - instructing, editing the newsletter, advertising, etc. We hope to see her when she's in Connecticut soon. Good note from Russell Payne, who was a post-grad student in '75. He says; "In the '75 yearbook under the heading "Some Theater," there is a photo of a bearded young man in boots with an umbrella. "As far as I know this is the only evidence of my time at Hammonasset." His affection and appreciation of the school come across clearly in his note, and he asks that we include his address. It is 2 Forest Street, Bellows Falls, VT 05101, or by now it may be 2 Morse Street, Springfield, VT 05156, depending on his job. Thanks for writing, Russell. ~®U'® c Justus Addiss and Alison Johnson ('78) have just finished remodeling their kitchen, with a new floor, some plumbing, paneling and painting, doing all the work themselves on their house in Middletown. Viola Maxfield Bargnesi is living in Ivoryton with her husband Robert. They bought a 1900 Victorian home to restore. (Maybe Justus and Alison have a few suggestions!) Viola is still riding horseback; her own Shiloh passed on, as did Sibyl, last February. She's working at Maxfield's Carpet Cleaning as Office Manager. Bruce Lyon is living in a microscopic apartment in Guilford, managing the Amazing Store in Orange, putting up with the Q Bridge daily. Bruce says he's saving for a down payment on a dwelling closer to work. Dianna Miller-Noyes writes: "escaped Vermont for a few weeks in the dead of winter for the Yucatan. My husband Doug, and 2 friends and I rented a VW Bug and explored the jungles, ruins sites and beaches." Dianna's still the Alumni Director at Marlboro College, and sends congratulations to H'sset's Alum President Liz Murphy for all her hard work. ~ ®U'U' c Whitney Bobbitwrites from Florida that after graduating from F.I.T. in 1982, he worked at Lockheed Space Operations at Kennedy Space Center for 4 years as a computer programmer. He's now working for Grumman Melbourne Systems. Whitney has a wife and two daughters, and although they enjoy the Florida climate, they spend vacations in Colorado skiing. He adds, "I owe a great deal to Hammonasset for where I am now." Thanks, Whitney, and come to Connecticut when you can! Anne Cassidy plans to be married in September, and she and her fiance, Tom, have bought a house in Windham, ME. Anne's still working for Gordon Clapp Travel in Portland, and has been promoted to Senior Travel Consultant, handling travel for L.L. Bean and other companies. She sends Hellos to Heloise Hambley and Charmagne Eckert, and all the Class of '77. We've learned that Heloise Hambley has added Levy to her name, but we know noth- 10 ing more. Heloise, will you fill us in when you can? (And congratulations!) Steve Young didn't send any news of his own, but says, "Keep the good news coming!" We'll try; hope everyone else will too! ~ ®'?® c Lots of news from '78. David Carr has his own business selling gourmet food, in Philadelphia, where he lives "with my #1 Lorraine Carboni." He says skiing, going on a cruise to Bermuda and time at the shore hardly leaves time for working out, going to clubs and enjoying life! Sounds OK. Good letter from Charmagne Eckert, one of the bicoastals with a base on the West Coast and also in New York. Charmagne graduated from NYU in 1982 with a BFA in Drama, and has been involved in stage, film, and -yes, even commercials. She also works as a production manager for commercials and feature films, "an enjoyable, lucrative and loaded-with-contracts way of feeding myself between roles." Priscilla Hine, married last October to Noah Hume, is living in San Francisco, teaching Kindergarten atthe Town School. She says Hello to Lory Spitzer and Jim Russell, wherever they may be. Lory's in Boston, but we can report only that Jim is no longer at Ethel Walker. We don't know more. Lovely story and picture in the New Haven paper brought us up to date about Sheila Mayfield's wedding on November 21 to Chris Morris. Sheila's brothers Alvin Bess and Mike Mayfield were in the wedding party. After a trip to France, Sheila and Chris have settled in Los Angeles, where she's a senior budget analyst at USC, and Chris is with Drexel Burnham Lambert. Sandy Congratulations to you both! Murphy's living in Brooklyn and is an engineer for TAMS Consultants, Inc. We'd like to quote extensively from the Art People column from The New York Times of last January 22: "... the artists John Zinsser and Philip Pocock have ... started a magazine of their own that contains nothing but interviews with artists ... Volume 1, No. 1 of The Journal of Contemporary Art came out last month in bookstores around the city, and includes interviews with 10 artists of the moment, including Sarah Charlesworth, Jeff Koons, David Reed, Jack Goldstein and Wolfgang Laib." This is a desktop publishing venture, and sells for $5 a copy. "We wanted to document a particular moment in the art world," John is quoted as saying. "You're talking about a group of people who are very verbally facile, who spend a lot of time thinking about the verbal discourse that is the foundation of their work." Look for the Journal. Another Hammonasset first! ~ ®'?® c Jennifer Haggin Balboni is a journalist with a newspaper in San Francisco called ASIANWEEK, covering Asian American politics. She's halfway through the coursework for her Master's in Political Science, and will travel to Cambodia in September to do her thesis. She and her husband plan a trip to Italy and Greece to celebrate 5 years of marriage as well. Keep us posted where you go next. Somebody told us that Gary Brink is the son of Pat of Saybrook's famous Country Kitchen, where you can get the world's best clam hash. Might want to check it out. Sarah Johnson, a graduate of SUNY at Albany, summa cum laude, has been selected as a member by Outstanding College Students of America. Closer to home, Shimika Higgins is a Service Assistant for Connecticut Blue Cross, and is living in New Haven, and Diana Wakem Leonard is also in the health field as a pediatric and rehabilitation specialist in Occupational Therapy. Diana works in the Great Falls, MT Hospital, and helped start a pediatric therapy clinic and a handicap equestrian program called Blue Sky Challenged Equestrians. David Portugal writes from Illinois that he's just opened a fourth telemarketing office. He's also planning a motorcycle trip to Maine and Canada and back toIL. ~®®© c Susan Ganley has moved back from Florida to Waterford, but is currently both working and living at a hotel in Newport, Rl. Chris Lacock received his BS in Business Economics from SCSU last December, and is currently a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. After he completes training at Fort Benning, GA, Chris will be stationed at Fort Carson, CO, with the 4th Infantry Division. He says Hi to all his friends from H'sset. Terry Wright was - at least in April - housesitting in Niantic, but expects to move back to NYC at the end of summer to work as an applications programmer. Terry also sends a Hi! to all his classmates he hasn't seen in ages. David Hymer married Therese Humphrey last August ('87) and they are living in San Diego. ~®@~c Brooke Adamson was seen one Saturday evening, managing the crowds at Wine and Roses Restaurant in Saybrook, and it was great to catch up with her. She's living in Chester, and working for The Brian House as a supervisor for retarded adults. In whatever time's left over, Brooke travels, paints and studies sign language. She's also looking for Jim Russell's address, so we'll do the best we can. Virginia Hambley has been in- valved with a citizen's action group called Fair Share in Eugene, OR, as well as other peace and environmental groups. She's studying math and writing at community college, but expects to be in Port Townsend, WA by October, to study boat building. It's great to know that Virginia's health is so greatly improved; she says "the world is certainly much more recognizable, and quite manageable to me now." Jay VanDeusen has left his job as a salesperson for a large airfreight company to become a carpenter and is now a foreman for Frazer Construction Co. in Churchville, MD. He has just been married- or expected to be when he wrote! - to Sally Sayre, a math teacher at Edgewood High School in Edgewood, MD. Congratulations to you both! ~®®~ c Gabriel (Jack) Chin expected to graduate in May from The University of Michigan Law School, and become a law clerk for a Federal Judge in Denver. From there he will return to NYC and work for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, the largest law firm in the city. Gigi Freas is in the Washington DC area, working in a computer company as an information specialist. She'd been back in Belgium for a 6 month seminar in International Economics, and has plans to go to Australia by the end of the year. Sends Hellos to Sarah, Lisa, Tom, Julie, Todd and Alice. In March, Todd Little wrote that he'd just become unemployed, a tough break as the film writers strike was getting under way. He reported a great year with art direction work on "The Golden Girls" and "It's A Living." He loves Hollywood, but he'd also like to get back into theater work. He lives "in a great little house with my two cats" but says "very few alumni contacts here." (There ARE lots of Alums in L.A .. Check the Directoryit might help.) ~®®~ c Debbie Gann is back from England, and graduated from Yale last May ('87), with a degree in History of Art. She's now working at theW. Graham Arader Ill Gallery in Philadelphia, selling antique prints and maps. She was in NYC in May to help Lisa Nadel ('84) celebrate her graduation from Barnard, along with Adam a bunch of Hammonasset's finest. Debbie would love to hear from friends, if any are nea Phila. (215) 232-6385. Tom Landry just got back from Nicaragua where he worked for 3 months in a soils testing lab outside of Managua. Tom's still in the Amherst area, and sees Annie Harris ('84) often. Jill von Staats graduated from Salve Regina College in Newport this May, with a degree in Anthropology. ~·1 . :Z: I -·' ~®®~ c Kris Emack is in her second year of teaching 4 and 5 year olds in Boston. She's moved to a new school in the Prudential Building, 5 minutes away from home. Kris has seen Laura Gibbons and Marybeth Averill, and says they're great as ever. Lisa Nadel received her degree in Art History from Barnard/Columbia in May (see '83's notes), and is living in New York. The Long Wharf Theater Program lists Damon Pearce as a member of its Box Office Staff, so look for him if you're in New Haven. ~®®® c Kathy Sheehan has successfully completed her second year at Elizabethtown College, and was a Big Sister to 3 children from an inner city area, nearby. The program was sponsored by the college. Heather Vaug_hn wrote last winter that she loves Hampshire, and hoped to travel to Britain this summer. She plans to make the next Reunion, and we hope she does, and everyone else does too! Marla Zullo has finished a year at SCSU as a Studio Arts Major. She says, "I'm psyched to be there, and things are going well." ~®®'F c Alice Sarsheen-Smith just finished her first year at the College of the Atlantic in _Bar Harbor, ME, studying Botany, and contmuing to pursue her love of art, and the many ways to express it. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR NEWS! IT'S A GREAT JOY TO HEAR FROM YOU, LEARN WHAT YOU'RE DOING, AND WHATHAMMONASSETMEANS TO YOU! KEEP WRITING! ... MORE ALUMNI NEWS ... Hammonasset Alums Go Over The Top! For the firsttime ever, Hammonasset's Alumni have gone WQOQ the goal of $2000 set for their Annual Fund Contribution! Last year, 1987, you provided your school with $1 ,877, which was a 30% increase over the year before. And THIS year you beat your own record, contributing $2.220.50, as of June 30!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! The same number of contributors were involved, although not always the same people. 79 of you sent in your hard earned dollars, and 29 of you had not made gifts in 1987. But another 29 did not¥§! contribute this year. Special thanks to the Class Agents who solicited donations in letters. They are Kathy DeVinne, '74, Liz Murphy, '76, Wendy Murray, '79, Pam Fowler, '81, Kris Emack,'84, Troy Greenwald, '85 and Kathy Sheehan, '86. But every one of you who helped gets out thanks. Your share makes a significant difference. And for those we haven't heard from YET, there's an envelope enclosed in this newsletter. It's never too late! Remember The Alumni Art Show? The first Alumni Art Show, engineered and successfully managed by Doug Noyes, '79 and Leif Nilsson, '80, is now history, but exciting and stimulating history, that made its mark last February and March. The WinterSpring Newsletter gave the details, but there is still positive comment and feedback from what was a very stimulating Show. There are now murmurs of the pcssibility of a secondshow. All very indefinite atthis point, but when the initial show is sue~ a success, it only makes sense to try agam. For those of you who might be interested in showing some of your work in the Visual Arts, or in any areas of creativity fiction, poetry, drama, design, musical composition, architecture, etc ... - start thinking. We will let you know what's up as soon as we know more. And we'd welcome ideas, suggestions and even help. Alumni Directory Everyone who has sent a contribution to the Alumni Fund received a copy oft he 198788 Directory, plus at least one updated list of address changes. There are a few copies left for anyone who would like to know who's where in the world. Copies, with updates, are available for $1 - because it does cost something to prepare, print and mail - from the Alumni Office, HammonassetSchool, P.O. Box844, Madison, CT 06433. And we'll consider you a contributor to the Alumni Fund in the bargain. Just use your Fund envelope, or write us directly. 11 Hammonasset Alumna Joins Board of Trustees AttheAnnual Meeting of the Ham monasset School Corporation on May 19, new Trustees were elected for three-year terms. One of those joining the Board is Lynne Ide, '76, the first Hammonasset graduate to be a regular member of the governing body of the school. It is a great step forward for the Alumni group, and Lynne will be a tremendous addition to the Board. While Lynne was at Hammonasset she was known as Chit. She went to Mt. Holyoke College, from which she graduated as a Sarah Williston Scholar, magna cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa in 1980. A year of extensive travel in India followed before Lynne joined the Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG), where she has done fundraisin_g, campaigning during elections, commumty organizing, lobbying and administration. She is now Co-Director of CCAG at its headquarters in Hartford. In 1987 she received the Consumer Service Award from the American Trial Lawyers Association for work on insurance reform. Lynne was married to Andy Woodcock on April 30 of this year. Andy is a reporter for the Norwich, CT Bulletin, and they are living in Windham, CT. Lynne's term of office began July 1, and she will serve on the Long Range Planning Committee, in addition to being another voice for the Alumni. Liz Murphy, also '76, will continue to represent the Alumni Association by virtue of her position as President of that organization. The Hammonasset School Newsletter SUMMER 1988 The Hammonasset School Summer Newsletter is sent free of charge to alumni, parents and friends of the school. Please send Alumni news and correspondence to Connie Pike, The Hammonasset School, P.O., Box 844, Madison, CT 06443. Donald Grace, Headmaster Bonnie Garmisa, Editor Sharon Bramhall, Annual Giving Connie Pike, Alumni Notes Contributors Don Barkin, Sharon Bramhall, Bud Church, Bonnie Garmisa, Don Grace, John Henderson, Connie Pike photo credits: "The Bakkhai" - Peter Allison; Sports- Chris Wiegman; Earth Day - David Brown; others Bonnie Garmisa Special Thanks to Amy Cooper from Advanced Office Systems :w.r;: 12 Euripides' 0 uNoeo '\~~~flai" Directed by Die Wheeler and presented in the spring of 1988 on four sites around the Hammonasset campus. Andy Dailinger (left) and Evan Blackford portray wise men five times Some writhing Maenads Melina Mackall walks through the city of Thebes. their own age. J The Hammonasset School Madison, Connecticut 06443 Bulk Rate U.S. Postage PAID Madison, CT 06443 Permit No. 40 Address correction requested