the stone cobra - Keystone School

Alumni Weekend 2014:
THE STONE COBRA
The Alumni Quadrangle and more
ISSUE 4
Our Alumni Weekend celebration was so
exciting this year! It was held December
19 to 20 and we had over 70 Alums from
all decades attend. The weekend was kicked off by
an Alumni vs. Varsity basketball game, which the
Varsity won at the buzzer by only 1 point! After the
game, Alums reunited at Tycoon Flats for a fun
night. The events on Saturday included a tour of
campus, an unveiling of the brand new Alumni
Quadrangle, and a special presentation of a time
capsule medicine bottle that was found during the
recent construction on campus. The old medicine
bottle contained a letter from six Alums from the
Classes of ‘66 and ‘70. Pete Ahr and Buddy Fischer
were two of the authors of the letter and they were
able to visit campus and speak of their time as
students. They also challenged the
current students to bury their own letter
for future generations to find on campus.
To read the found letter please visit the
website. The weekend concluded with a
great celebration at Liberty Bar. Can’t
wait for next year’s Alumni Weekend!
Photo credits: Top, school pendant that all
Alums who attended signed; top-right, Buddy
Fischer ’69 and Pete Ahr ’69; middle, Alums
enjoying the new Alumni Quad; bottom, Alum vs.
Varsity B-ball game
Why Give Back? Endowment for Teacher Excellence
There are so many amazing men and women
over the years who have impacted our lives;
from Mrs. Preston, Dr. Prince, and Mr. Babel.
Keystone teachers are special and as Alumni,
we can show our support! I hope you will be
able to donate anything from $5 or more, but
know that your contribution will be going to
where it counts, the heart of Keystone, to the
teachers and their wonderful programs.
Visit www.keystoneschool.org/alumni to
donate!
Alumni Day 2015
On Friday, January 16th we had our 2nd
annual Alumni Day with 8 fantastic Alums
and our high school students. The Alums that
participated were Toya Cirica Bell ‘83,
Aerie Brown ‘98, Travis Brown ‘98,
David Bynum ‘88, Sarah Osmer ‘05,
Avik Roy ‘90, Joel Shively ‘67, and
Wayne Shandera ‘69. The day was
“I learned you have to love what you
do, work hard, and ask for what you
want if you want to get anywhere.”
-Keystone High Schooler
focused on Alums speaking with high school students about their time at
Keystone, life journey, and career advice. The students loved the chance to be
able to talk to alums. Some feedback we heard about the day from students
was, “Wonderful; so educational. It’s important for us to see people in the real
world. We are in this very small bubble and it’s nice to have some inspiring
mentors come talk to us.” Go Alums: you inspire students!!
Photo Credits: left column, Sar ah Osmer ‘05 talking to students, Toya Cir ica Bell ‘83 and
Serena Agrawal ‘15; right, Joel Shively ‘67; Avik Roy ‘90 and students, Aerie Brown ‘98
speaking with students
Alumni Spotlight:
Chance Ruder, ‘10
Jake Lewis, ‘06
“There is something about the ocean that is really
isolating and the spirit of this trip is one of selfreliance and what it means to really venture forth
alone… -Chance Ruder
Chance Ruder ‘10 is planning to make a sea voyage
from the Florida Keys to New Zealand ending in Los
Angeles. Chance has applied to the Watson fellowship and will hear this month
if he receives a grant in support of his journey. Chance
plans on making the voyage
regardless of the fellowship
decision, but will have to postpone it to save money for the
voyage. Please check out
Chance’s website/blog at
www.saltandsails.com/ and a
short documentary
video of his future voyage on
Youtube. A Chance at Sea.
Jake Lewis ‘06 has started an
internship with NBC News in
Washington, D.C. He interns
with Pete Williams, the Justice
Correspondent, at NBC News.
He assists in research,
interviews, and segment
production. He has also written
a few articles with Pete. They
cover the Supreme Court, Dept.
Of Justice, Terrorism, and major
federal court cases. Down the
line he wants to become an on
air correspondent hopefully
covering politics. He got the
internship through the help of a few professors in his
Masters program at American University. Click here and
here to read articles that Jake has written with Pete
Williams. Way to go, Jake!
Page 2
THE STONE COBRA
Alumni News: Where are they now?
Henry Fitzhugh ‘61
From Keystone I went to MIT, the
first to have done so, and did
Aeronautics & Astronautics. I spent
the summer after my junior year on
an exchange in England. This got me
into the scene here and I took some
advice about doing a PhD and ended
up at Imperial College London –
rated second in the engineering
world after MIT, and better for my
subject than MIT. I had an enormous
amount of fun in Swinging London
from 1965-68. I came back to the US
to work for McDonnell-Douglas in St
Louis, but that experience convinced
me that I really preferred living in
the UK. I got a job working on
hovercraft at the National Physical
Laboratory and was there for 3
years. Then London Transport was
looking for aerospace types to
regenerate its railway vehicle design,
so I went there and set up a group of
12 to bring in modern dynamics and
finite element analysis and much
else. That took me to a position of
running the Underground’s scientific
services, so I ended up as Scientific
Adviser to the Board, with 81 staff,
John Lyon , ‘61 said ,
“Henry was the smartest person
I ever met."
the largest group being 26 chemists.
From there I went on to run the
technology side of the computer
effort, and then I was sent off to an
advertising agency. I came back to a
Board position as Director in charge
of marketing and the capital budget
(then about $1 Billion p.a. in 1986).
I have two sons, one of whom
did aero as well and is now a Chief
Engineer at Rolls-Royce aero
ISSUE 4
engines (the youngest in R-R and
second youngest at that level in the
UK), currently in charge of the F-35,
which both our countries are buying.
My other son did a degree in
philosophy, worked as an
advertising agency account manager,
and then and spent 4 years in Japan
before finding his metier running
websites and communications,
which he does for a big national
charity now, back in the UK.
I live in peaceful enjoyment
with my wife Rosemary, who had a
glittering career as a barrister
(senior lawyer, fellow pupil in
chambers with Tony Blair) for the
government, and who recently
retired herself, and spends her time
collecting degrees (at Oxford this
year and next) in subjects like
classical archaeology and
conservation. She speaks Greek, and
Ancient Greek, as well as French
totally fluently, having been raised in
Belgium with a classical education.
Our big hobby is classic
Rolls-Royces. We don’t use them for
anything except going on jaunts,
especially with the R-R club which is
extremely sociable. We tend to go
on long rallies driving across
Europe with a few dozen other cars
of the same age. The other love of
our lives is drinking champagne,
which is only affordable by buying
directly from the growers in France.
Last time we went and came back
with 344 bottles, enough to keep us
going for 4 years.
I remember Keystone very
fondly for the excellent teachers we
had, and am grateful that it gave me
such a good education – my other
alma maters only gave me a
training.
Photo Credit:
top, Henry and
his wife; right,
senior photo in
yearbook 1961
Page 3
Ms. Penny’s Corner : Words of Wisdom
Hi there amazing alumni,
The year is moving on so
fast. Valentin’s Day, 2015 is
now history, and the Junior
Class was amazing. The
High School play is over, and
the students performed in
incredible fashion. Keystone
teams took first and second
place at World Quest, so we
have a team that will travel
to Washington, D.C. in April
to seek the national
championship. Sam Terry
won at the state finals of the
Poetry Out Loud and will
represent Keystone and
Texas at the national finals
in Washington, D.C in April.
Youth Service Day is this
week and Prom is around
the corner.
Since it is practically
spring, would someone
please tell me why the wind
is blowing, it’s raining, and it
is 35-45 degrees outside?
Am I still in San Antonio?
Final reminder in
this extreme weather…
Take good
care of yourself. Cover
your mouth
when you
cough or
sneeze, take
your vitamins,
put on your
coat when
you go
outside, and please stay
home if you are sick and
don’t send your children to
school if they are sick!
Love you all.
-Penny
Alum-O-Grams:
Valentine’s Day Tradition
Keystone wouldn’t be the same without our
beloved Valentine’s Day tradition. A day full of
kisses, flowers, balloons, and candy! The Senior
Alumni Ambassadors and I took orders, got crafty
making each unique Alum-o-gram, and passed out
all the love to teachers and staff. Please remember
your Alum-O-Gram is appreciated and cherished
by teachers and staff! All proceeds from Alum-OGrams went to the Endowment for Teacher
Excellence. The Senior Ambassadors and I want to
send a big THANK YOU to all the Alums who
participated and if you didn't buy your Alum-OGram this year, there is always next year!
#onlyatkeystone
Life, Love, & Babies,
OH MY…
Laurie Nunnelly Breen ‘02
welcomed her new bundle of
joy into the world.
Engagements are in the air:
Ashley Kahn ’06, Congrats!
Congratulations is in order to
Jacob Pechenik ‘90 on his
engagement and future bundle
of joy with actress/singer
Zoey Deschanel.
Page 4
THE STONE COBRA
Alumni Photo Wall
Photo Credits: left: (1)/(2)young Alums
celebrate Alumni Weekend; (3) ‘05-’06 Alums; (4)
‘02-’05 Alums; (5) Mr. Spedding visiting in Boston with young Alums; Middle: (1) young
Alums celebrate at AW; (2) ‘06-’08 Alums, (3) ‘05-’06 Alums; right: (1)/(2) young Alums
celebrate at AW, (3) young Alums at Holiday Party; (4) ‘90s Alums at Holiday Party
ISSUE 4
Page 5
Non-Profit Org
US Postage
PAID
Keystone School
119 E. Craig Place
San Antonio, TX 78212
Permit # 1594
San Antonio, TX
April 25: Alumni Fiesta Party
TBA
May 1: Class of 2015 Alumni
Celebration Lunch
May 24: Keystone Graduation
You’re Invited...
For more information on event and to purchase
tickets to the Keystone Gala contact
Mary Burch, Director of Development at
mburch@keystoneschool.org /
210.735.4022 x353
THANK YOU!
...for reading the fourth edition of the Alumni Newsletter! I hope you laughed, cried, and
reminisced at the good ole times at Keystone. The goal is to have Alums write to Alums. This is a
forum to talk about the journey, the memories, and any questions you might have about the “bubble” called Keystone.
Laura Padilla, Alumni Coordinator / Lpadilla@keystoneschool.org / 210.735.4022 x336