FALL 2014
Vol. 32.
No. 1
Magazine of The Learning Project Elementary School
INSIDE
Graduation 2014
August Scholars
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 1
Fall 2014
MS. HILL conducting the all school
chorus at the annual Mayfest
celebration in Copley Square.
3Shares
from Michael McCord
from MICHAEL MCCORD
COVER STORY
4 Graduation 2014
[An edited excerpt from the Headmaster’s comments
to the Graduates of 2014]
The kind and humorous remarks by Carl
Prindle, Board of Trustees, Chair, to the
Class of 2014 during The LP graduation
ceremony this past June.
FEATURES
8 August Scholars
A review of the August Scholars’ summer
program after its 7th year.
11 Around TLP
Spring and Fall happenings at The LP!
14 New Faces
New faculty and staff.
16 Comings & Goings
News from Alumni, and former faculty.
19 Annual Report 2014
COVER PHOTO: Sixth Graders and first
graders sharing their "final goodbye" in
front of The LP before the 2014 graduation ceremonies.
The LampPost is published
three times annually by
The Learning Project
Elementary School.
107 Marlborough St.
Boston, MA 02116-1901
tel: 617.266.8427
fax: 617.266.3543
email: tlp@learningproject.org
2 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
Keeping Balance
EDITOR:
Caroline Buttner
CONTRIBUTORS:
Michael McCord
Carl Prindle
DESIGN:
Javier Amador-Pena
Pluma2.com
For all of us, life is continually about finding
balance. And we do that most effectively when
we are aware of competing demands and when
we make thoughtful and deliberate choices
between them.
Keeping good balance is not easy. You, like
all of us, will make mistakes. You will not leave
yourself enough time to do the best job you
could on that English composition, and you will
be disappointed with your grade. It happens.
Don’t be too hard on yourself; but learn from
your disappointment and, the next time, start
working on the assignment a day earlier.
There is one balancing act that is never
simple. This is the act of balancing what your
peers think is right with what you think is right.
Many times your thinking and theirs will be in
agreement, but sometimes not—and therein lies
the challenge. What do you do? To whom will
you listen for guidance and advice—to your
friends, or to your own conscience and heart?
In a situation like this, you have two powerful resources embedded inside you that you
can readily call upon for help. Each of you is
endowed with an excellent mind. Listen to it.
Hear the still small voice of your own conscience. Hear the loving voice of your parents,
and the voice of your teachers who taught you
lessons about virtue and character in school.
And think about what these voices are saying
before you make decisions. Don’t feel rushed by
your peers; if making a decision requires more
time, make the time, not the decision.
The second resource is your heart—that
metaphorical location of your virtue, and each
of you has plenty of virtue. So when you need
to find your own balance in a difficult situation,
draw also on your goodness and on the moral
strength of your character to guide you to a decision that is right for you, and not necessarily
for someone else.
Here’s how some of this advice might play
out next fall. There may well be someone in
your new class at your new school who will,
at first, seem very shy, perhaps awkward, and
maybe lonely. Many will ignore that
person—not because they are mean,
but perhaps because they don’t have
your good interpersonal skills, and
maybe have not thought as carefully
as you about ‘balance.’ You don’t
need to follow their lead. Instead, be
the person who reaches out to that
classmate and breaks through their
discomfort and isolation. Say, “Hello,” and start a conversation. And by
doing that simple act of kindness and
decency you will discover two things:
that you have made yourself another
friend, and that you have allowed
that person to help you keep your life
in balance. It is all reciprocal.­—MMcC
MICHAEL MCCORD
Speaking to the graduates.
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 3
The Learning Project’s Class of 2014 graduated on the beautiful, sunny morning of June 18th at The First Church in Boston. The accomplishments of the fifteen graduates were celebrated as the
school’s 41st year was brought to a close.
by CARL PRINDLE
Carl’s notes for his remarks to the Class of 2014 before
the presentation of diplomas.
My name is Carl Prindle. I’m LP class of ‘79,
outgoing Chair of the Board of Trustees, and an
Alumni Parent.
On behalf of the Learning Project’s outstanding
Chair elect—Jim Duane—and the Board, I have
the honor, one last time, of presenting LP diplomas to the graduates.
In preparation, I had lunch with the sixth
graders last week, something I’ve done annually
to see how The LP is doing in the eyes of these important constituents, and to gather and share their
thoughts as they move on from The LP.
As their LP tenure precisely overlaps my own
as Chair—this is the sixth year I’ve had lunch
with the 6th graders—they had full understanding of how our lunch might be used here today.
With the cumulative challenge of wanting to
say things not said by the previous 5 classes, and
the cumulative advantage of having an awful lot
of time to prepare, it was quite a meal.
I use the math term cumulative with intent and
admiration for this class, certainly the “mathiest”
of any I’ve had the pleasure of dining with.
Within minutes of my arriving, they’d provided me such quantitative facts as:
1.You are 363 days older than my dad.
2.The class raised $508.00 at the bake sale.
3.The Kindergarten has twice as many
toilets per capita as the elementary school.
Their pride in their Bake Sale total was indica4 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
tive of a qualitative aspect of the class as well.
They are a self-named “dream team” that revels in their cohesiveness and their achievements
—the flash mob at the sixth grade dance, the party
they secretly planned and executed for Mr. Hajj
and Ms. Bennett.
This is a class that describes themselves as
overachievers and—in a possible first at The
LP—as competitive, a term that under questioning they ultimately backed away from, but only
slightly.
They are quite assured that they are the best LP
Class that ever was, is or will be…and who am I
to disagree.
This is a class that revels in and catalogs the
funny small moment, the inside joke.
•The Triple stuffed Oreo.
•Llamas, lemurs, and manatees.
•Staying up until 5AM reading.
•The heroism of saving a classmate’s life multiple times and the classmate who would
gladly give his life for 2 ants.
•The 70 year old cute guy.
•The shopping expedition to Trader Joe’s for
the DC trip, which ground to a screeching halt
when the son of a sommelier insisted on buying exorbitantly priced sparking grape juice.
When asked to describe their class, they said
they are, quite simply, Family—Brothers and
Sisters, with all that entails.
“If we were stranded in the desert,” they said,
“starving, dying of thirst, we would make each
GRADUATION DAY: Sixth Graders lined up
outside the school awaiting their schoolmates for the traditional "last goodbye"
handshake.
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 5
They are a self-named “dream team” that
revels in their cohesiveness and their achievements...“If we were stranded in the desert,”
they said, “starving, dying of thirst, we
would make each other laugh.”
—CARL PRINDLE, Board of Trustees, Chair
other laugh.”
Beyond their unbridled pleasure in one
another and all they have achieved, they’ve also
thought deeply about The LP and what it has
meant to them.
THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE LP
We spent some time discussing the school, The
LP’s mission, what it does well, and ideas they
have for improvement.
1. On the School’s Mission: When asked what
The LP is here to do, they said it was to:
•Educate Kids differently - in a way that’s
comprehensive, engaging and fun.
•Create good citizens.
•To allow us to be right here right now.
2. When asked the best things about The LP,
they said:
•That it’s small, cohesive, and full of friends.
•That there’s always something unexpected.
•That the school trusts us, and gives us
opportunities to be grownups.
3. Asked how the school is different from other
schools their friends may attend, they explained
it this way:
•When you’re little, they said, you don’t
understand virtues.
•In a lot of schools, you may never learn
virtues.
•At The Learning Project you can’t help but
be virtuous.
4. I ask each year for areas the Board and school
could improve.
•They mentioned a number of capital
improvements, several perennial favorites,
the aforementioned per capita toilet analysis,
solar power, water fountains and a number
of less practical water features.
•They did offer a practical twist on the annually reliable elevator request. This class
suggested a Stana Stairlift - for better handicap access but also, they said, so Mr. McCord will never have to leave.
•Most ambitiously, they requested the opportunity to review The LP rule book and
establish a new form of governance, specifi6 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
cally “a limited monarchy”.
Ultimately, the identity of this monarch and
his or her limitations remained unclear, but
what is clear is that this group wants a
material say in their destiny. Parents, you
have my admiration and my sympathy.
WHAT THEY ARE THINKING TODAY
We moved from their thoughts on the school to
thoughts as they prepare to move on.
5. What are they feeling about next year?
•Excited and nervous about the same thing
—a bigger stage
6. Their advice for our Kindergarteners:
•Stay strong
•Work hard
•Enjoy it
•Be yourself, be original, and no one can
touch you
•Stay friends forever
7. What they are feeling, here today as they
prepare to receive their diplomas:
•Sadness, Happiness, Accomplishment
•What the heck. I was just in Kindergarten.
How am I here?
8. As graduation features a great deal of talking
about the graduates but very little by them, I
asked if they had things they wanted to convey
to all of you here, today. They did.
•To Mr Hajj, a message:
i.You are the best ever. We needed someone like you to handle people like us. Thank
you, DJ Hajjtag.
•To their parents—several messages to
convey:
i. To one father, from your daughter, who
is convinced you will be crying by now:
“uh…man up”.
ii. Two less specific messages for parents,
perhaps both indicative that this is
ultimately a day like any other:
- “what’s for dinner?”
- (and this is just generically...I did ask) “I told you so.”
iii. To all the families from all of them…
Thank you. Thank you for sending me
to The LP.
•To the entire school – student body, faculty
and administration:
i.We made it
ii.Thank you for being there.
•And finally to each other:
i.Let’s do this
ii.I will miss you
Let’s do this, I will miss you…It’s this mix
of ambition and cohesiveness that I found most
remarkable in this class.
These two attributes – so often mutually
exclusive—are miraculously harmonized in
these graduates.
And on that theme, one last note. They told
me they had invented a hand signal for the
class. Not for today, but for the future. It’s a
signal they will give each other when they are
famous, appearing on the news or a talk show,
signaling they haven’t forgotten, and that the
dream team has posted yet another win.
I must admit I asked a very un-LP question
at that point—which of your classmates do you
think will be on on a talk show? On the news?
To which they gave the perfect LP answer.
“Why…all of us, of course.”
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, it is my
great honor to present Learning Project Diplomas to this year’s graduating class.
SIXTH GRADERS listening to Carl Prindle’s
remarks.
2014 HONORARY DIPLOMA RECIPIENT:
TINA CHERY
Ira Goldklang, alum parent, Member of the Board, and Chair
of the Honorary Diploma Committee, introduced Ms. Chery
with these words.
Learning Project graduates, students, family and friends:
The purpose of our Honorary Diploma is, “To put before
the children at graduation individuals who have led lives
characterized by significant civic service to others.”
This year’s recipient of our Honorary Diploma is Clementina “Tina” Chery, founder and CEO of the Louis D. Brown
Peace Institute.
Born in Honduras and raised in Dorchester where she
lives now, Tina was a stay at home mom providing her
three children with what she thought was a safe and
secure environment in which to grow and thrive.
However, Tina will tell you that her story begins with,
what for me, is an unimaginable tragedy, the death of
her then 15 year old son, Louis David Brown, five days
before Christmas in 1993.
Louis was a young man any of us would have been
proud to know.
D. Brown Peace Institute, an organization dedicated to
providing crisis management and counseling services to
the families of homicide victims.
Starting with the Boston Public school system the Louis
D. Brown Peace Institute introduced the Peace Curricula - teaching peace through literature and community
service. They started the Memorial Button Project to
visually underscore that each victim of homicide has a
name, a family, and a unique story. And, they started the
Mother’s Day Walk for Peace as a way to publicly declare
that the community must band together to protect all
children.
I am honored to introduce to you Tina Chery, a woman
who took pain and anger and turned them into power
and action dedicated to creating a community of peace;
a community where all are valued.
Please join me in welcoming Ms Chery to the podium.
IRA GOLDKLANG presenting TINA CHERY
with her honary LP Diploma.
A young man who worked hard in school, dreamt bigdreams, and seeing the problems within his community,
gave of himself to try a fix those problems.
He was on his way to the Christmas party of a group
he belonged to - Teens Against Gang Violence - when he
was killed in the cross fire of two rival street gangs.
Refusing to let this tragedy be just another ‘senseless
killing” on the streets of Boston, Tina started the Louis
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 7
August Scholars
by MICHAEL MCCORD
E
AUGUST SCHOLARS arriving
at school.
8 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
ach summer
for the past
seven, our little
school has operated
what has now become
a fairly complex and
large—and, dare I say,
increasingly highly
regarded—summer
outreach initiative,
August Scholars. As
most readers already know, August Scholars
is intended for students who are especially
vulnerable to ‘summer learning loss’ and whose
families may not have the resources to help.
The program is intensively academic, but not
exclusively so, and it is free of charge, though
there is a small sliding scale for those who can
afford to pay something.
Most of the Scholars come from Boston
Public Schools. A few come from the charter sector or from parochial or independent
schools. The program is four weeks for faculty
and staff and three weeks for the students, and
in that time we work to re-secure skills learned
over the last year, to preview some new ones,
to build self-confidence based on improved
performance, and to newly inspire the students
to achieve in school. One of the core lessons we
teach is that there are many things in life over
which we do not have much control, but we can
exercise considerable control over our attitude
and over our effort. The more positive our attitude and the more diligent our effort, the more
likely we are to succeed.
Our August Scholars program has had considerable continuity over the years, but it has
also grown and changed. This year we had 87
children complete the program compared to the
year before when we had 57 (a 50% increase).
This past summer we also enlarged the scope of
the program, adding two sections of third graders to our fourth, fifth and sixth grade sections.
This summer, for the first time, we divided our
Scholars by grade levels between our two sites
with grades five and six located at Suffolk University and grades three and four located at The
Learning Project. We also incorporated an art
class in the afternoon—a very popular addition.
On the ‘continuity side,’ this summer we
had a higher rate of returning students than
ever before and all eight of our Head Teachers
had worked previously in the program. (Two
came from The LP, the rest from district or
charter schools in Boston or Philadelphia.) And
we also continued this summer to work with
the same afternoon partners: The Community
Music Center of Boston and The Tony Williams
Dance Studio.
How did our Scholars do? In the core subject
areas (reading, math, vocabulary and writing)
we did some pre and post testing that helps to
answer that question. As in previous summers,
we saw significant gains overall—not for every
student in every area, but for every student in
at least some of the areas. Most importantly—
and not so quantifiable—we gave a number of
Scholars a new outlook on school and on their
own abilities as a result of being able to present
to them positive proof that hard work and good
attitude lead to scholastic achievement.
Here are three sample comments from Scholars gathered from our end-of-program surveys:
“It was generous of you to give me a chance to get
better at academics. Practicing my reading comprehension each day is important because I’m building
confidence in reading and in answering questions. In
AUGUST SCHOLARS at a
morning meeting combining
students in fourth and fifth
grades. Teachers: Mary
Michalow and Brian Gaines.
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 9
my future, I will have a head start in school.”
“Once we had a test to see where we were. When
I finished, my teacher wrote my goals and I worked
so hard to meet my goals. I then got 100% on the
[next] test! I was so happy. That will happen at
school, also, because I will continue to work hard.”
“I got better at reading, math, and vocabulary.
When I go back to school I will be able to do the work
I never did before. I even impressed myself with how
much I improved.”
It is a wonderful experience to work with
these children, and those of us who do so are
immensely grateful to the generosity of the
people and Foundations who make August
Scholars possible. Those names are listed in
the long version of our Annual Report on our
website.
MAYFEST
LAST SPRING
1. Walk For Hunger, May 4th
2. T he LP’s Apple tree in bloom in the Boston Public Garden.
3. R
etiring Board Chair, Carl Prindle, and New Board Chair, Jim
Duane, at final Board Meeting.
4. R
otating off Board Members: Michelle Davis, Carl Prindle, and
Rob Fortes.
5. The LP's garden, a project of The Garden Club of The Back Bay.
6. The LP Science Team, an after school club organized by
Science Teacher Suzanne Garcia, ended the year with a visit to
Maker Bot, and some mentos Geysers at the Playground.
RIGHT: Final day dance recital at
Suffolk University.
LOWER LEFT: Fifth grade teacher, Jake Frumkin, doing a reading
lesson.
LOWER RIGHT: A scholar at
work.
10 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
1
2
3
4
5
6
6
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 11
FIELD DAY
6TH GRADE URBAN HIKE
READ-A-THON FUNDRAISING
The LP students raised a total of $8, 279.00 during the
annual LP Read-a-Thon held this past February. Below are
the receipients of the funds raised during the event.
Heading Home $2,500
Boston Natural Areas Network $2,500
Words to Wings $2,700
Allocated by decision of the Sixth grade class:
Make-A-Wish $100*
Lumos $400
*The Sixth grade class also added $300 of extra DC Trip
Money to make this $400 in total.
FALL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
4
Fifth graders, writing on their computers.
Quiet read in the sixth grade.
Ana Fabrega, first grade Intern, assessing a student's reading.
A first grader selecting a leveled reading book.
First grade teacher, Ms. Brinkley, doing a reading assessment.
First grader reading.
5
1
2
12 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
3
6
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 13
New Faces
Kristen Faubert, Head
Kindergarten Teacher
Ana Fabrega, Grade One
Intern
Lizzie Barcay, Head Third
Grade Teacher
Christian Bertelsen, Grade
Two Intern
Carlos Saez Rodrigquez, Head
Spanish Teacher
Caroline Shea, Grade Three
Intern
NEW FACES
As you will see from the photo gallery of
new faculty and staff, we have a lot of
new faces this year. Typically, of course,
our Interns change annually, but we also
have several new administrators, two
new grade heads, a new Spanish teacher,
and a newly created permanent Assistant
Teacher in Knidergarten. Each brings an
abundance of talent and is a great addition to our community.
Liliana O’Day, Assistant
Kindergarten Teacher
Pam D’Amato, Grade Four
Intern
While it is an exciting moment of new
beginnings here, we will miss our
colleagues who have gone on to new
adventures. Andy Gallagher, Director
of External Relations left to become
Executive Director of Boston office of The
Posse Foundation. Dana Pulda, Program
Coordinator, is now in a similar position at a charter school. Administrative
Assistant Maggie Ward joined her partner
in New York and has a job in sports
marketing, and Heather Ferrara, in anticipation of the arrival of a baby soon, took
a job in school development much closer
to her home in Reading. On the faculty
side, Spanish teacher Katy Hutchinson is
now teaching Science at a KIPP school.
Kindergarten teacher Mary Pelletier
returned to upstate New York to care for
her mother, and Mary Curtin, long time
third grade teacher, is using her masters
in reading as a reading specialist at a
special education school where she has
worked for the past two summers.
FACULTY
Jackie Pennell, Grade Five
Intern
Kristen Faubert, Head Kindergarten
Teacher: A graduate of the University
of Vermont in Early Childhood, and currently studying for her M.Ed. at Boston
University, Kristen worked for three
years as a Head Pre-School Teacher at
The Transportation Children’s Center
and last year as an Associate Kindergarten teacher at a local charter school.
Kristen lives in the North End.
John Krewson, Grade Six
Intern
14 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
Laura Mellen, Coordinator of
Programs
Claire Toker, Administrative
Assistant
Lizzie Barcay, Head Third Grade Teacher: Lizzie graduated from Williams College in 2011 and was an Intern for two
years at a special school in Boston, The
Learning Project. Last year she studied
at the Graduate School of Education at
Harvard to earn her M. Ed.. Lizzie lives
in the Back Bay.
Carlos Saez Rodrigquez, Head Spanish Teacher: Sr. Saez was raised and
schooled in Spain and has a BA in History, a BA in Social work, and post-graduate certificates in education. Last year
Sr. Saez taught at The Cambridge-Ellis
School and at The Atrium School in
Watertown. He and his wife live in the
North End.
Liliana O’Day, Assistant Kindergarten
Teacher: Lilana was born and raised
in Mexico, and came to the States to
work as an au pair. After working her
way through Northeastern University,
earning a BA in Management, she got a
job working as a toddler and preschool
teacher at Pine Village Preschool in the
South End. She and her husband live in
the Back Bay.
INTERNS (fall intern assignments)
Ana Fabrega, Grade One Intern: Ana, a
citizen of Panama, graduated last May
from New York University with a degree
in Early Childhood Education. She lives
in Cambridge.
Christian Bertelsen, Grade Two Intern:
Chris graduated in May 2012 from Colby
College with a major in American Studies and was a dorm parent and athletic
director at The Greenwood School in
Vermont. He lives in Brighton.
ucation, Pam heard about The LP from
a classmate who was in our Internship
Program. Pam lives in Brookline.
Jackie Pennell, Grade Five Intern:
Jackie graduated from Trinity College
this past spring with a BA in music and
English literature. Raised in Arlington,
Jackie now lives in Brighton.
John Krewson, Grade Six Intern: John
is a May 2013 graduate of Syracuse
University with a BA in history. Last year
he worked as an AmeriCorps fellow with
Tenacity in Boston. He lives in Brighton.
ADMINISTRATION
Laura Mellen, Coordinator of Programs:
A 2007 graduate of Middlebury College,
with an M.Ed in Childhood Education
from Manhattanville College, Laura has
taught for the past seven years, mostly
in third grade, including a three year
stint at BB&N. Most recently, she was
teaching third grade in Norwich, VT, while
her husband attended Tuck Business
School at Dartmouth. They live in the
South End.
Claire Toker, Administrative Assistant:
Claire was born and raised in the south
of England, spent her high school years
in Paris, and returned to England to
attend college and begin a secretarial
career. Most recently, Claire has been
teaching Nursery School in Arlington,
where she had started out in the job
that she returns to at The LP—as the
school's the Administrative Assistant.
Claire lives in Belmont and has two
children now both in college.
Caroline Shea, Grade Three Intern:
Caroline graduated in May 2013 from
the University of Vermont with a major
in psychology, and this past year was an
AmeriCorps Vista volunteer working at
three different Boston Public Schools.
Caroline lives in Somerville.
Pam D’Amato, Grade Four Intern: A
2009 graduate of Ithaca College ,with
an M.Ed from Northeastern in Higher
Education and another in Elementary Ed-
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 15
ALUMNI
Mac Randall, ’83, after graduating from Cambridge Rindge
and Latin, pursued his musical
interests for a few years before completing his undergraduate work at Harvard in 1998.
He now lives in NYC. He is a
published author (Exit Music:
The Radiohead Story, Dell,
2000, rev. 2012) and 101
Great Playlists (Sterling, 2012)
and currently editor in chief
of a music magazine, Music
Alive, for middle and high
school students and teachers.
He is also a widely published
journalist and a composer,
songwriter, guitarist, former
member of the New Yorkbased band Bedsit Poet, and
a son, husband and father.
This fall he released his first
solo album, I Call Time.
Will Crawford, ’91, is heading
up the Boston office of the
makers of the highly successful Fitbit, which can measure
daily footsteps, miles covered,
stairs climbed and calories
burned. He is working on engineering and software, as well
as on core business development. His wife, Catharine,
is a surgeon with Cambridge
Health Alliance. They live in
Bay Village.
father, during his speech at
the reception, commented that
he had "seen Garrett in many
states, but a state of grace
was not one of them until
today!”
Graham Pingree, ’91, and Sarah Pingree had their second
child, Chester Gibson Pingree
on March 6, 2014. They live in
San Francisco.
Justin Kisch, ’92, completed a
Master’s in Music Education at
URI and is a long-term substitute at Classical High School
in Providence. He plays organ
for a church, is a member of a
swing/jazz band, and occasionally ‘dabbles’ in community theatre—all causing him to
wonder if his LP music teacher
(and story teller) Michael
Punzak ever imagined that
he, Justin, would become so
involved in music and theater.
Ezra Pryor ’97, and his wife
Heather with their son, Bodhi
Harold Pryor, born July 12th, 2014.
David Vega-Barachowitz,’00,
living in NYC, was a contributor to the Urban Street Design
Guide published in October
2013 by the National Association of City Transportation
Officials.
Sam Schleipman ‘02 has
completed the first year of a
27-month tour of duty with the
U.S. Peace Corps in Sierra
Leone in West Africa. He was
brought home early (along with
all other Peace Corps volunteers in the area) to avoid
exposure to the Ebola virus.
Garrett Hatton, ’99, officiated at a friend’s wedding
on Cape Cod. The groom’s
Julian Silver ‘02 had a part in
Season 3 episode 8 of “Unforgettable” on CBS.
Katrina Grigg-Saito, 91, and
husband, Jonah had a baby
boy in September and will
soon be decamping for San
Francisco as Jonah’s company, Directr, an app for making
short films, was just purchased by Goggle.
Eben Pingree, ’94, and Russell McNiven (fourth grade
Teacher ’90-’92) had a chance
meeting this summer at Fenway Park. Eben lives in Boston
and is doing a ‘start up.’ Russell lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Her daughter, Abigail, started
this fall at the University of
Arkansas.
16 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
John Bok, ‘04, who attended LP for first through third
grades before switching to
the Carroll School in Lincoln,
published a compelling essay
about the challenges of being
dyslexic in The Gavel: The
Progressive Voice of Boston
College. John tells the story
of how difficult it often was
and how hard he had to work
to succeed in college. He
graduated from BC in May,
will be working for a year as a
paralegal and plans to apply
to law school next year. The
link to his article is: http://
bcgavel.com/2014/05/09/
authentic-eagles-on-learning-disabilities.
Sam Adams, ’04, graduated from Boston University
with a major in International
Relations and was President
and Captain of the BU Rugby
Football Club for two years.
Through high school, college
and beyond he has been
employed by the Boston Red
Sox in the Event Operations
Department. Currently he is
an intern in the MA Attorney
General’s Office and pursuing
full time employment opportunities.
Rocco Pepe, ’04, has just
completed his second year
at Becker College where he
is majoring in Game Development.
Reid Warner, ’91, is living in
California pursuing an acting
career.
Inga [Ellertson] Vintimilla, ’86, her husband and two children
live in Cuenca, Ecuador. Inga and Diego have founded a nonprofit
organization called Words to Wings.org, to bring books to Ecuador
where there are no libraries for children and no story books in the
schools. Here, the children in one of the four schools now being
supported are showing off books purchased with a gift of $2700
raised by LP children last year during The Read-a-Thon. Inga has
on a green shirt.
also at WGBH. Recently, he
has been doing fundraising
to promote sustainable food
programs.
ALUMNI
Michael Macdonald, ’04, went
to Hingham High School and
has been doing cooking and is
planning to enter a program to
train as an electrician.
Leanna Mirowitz, ‘04’ and
sister, Mariel, ’09, a senior at
Boston Latin. Leanna graduated from Harvard in May with a
degree in Human Evolutionary
Biology and a secondary field
in Global Heath & Health Policy. She is living in Nicaragua
for a year, working in a staff
position for Global Brigades,
which sends tens of thousands of university students
and professionals to partner
with communities in under
resourced regions around the
world to improve quality of
life. During college Leanna
participated in their programs
in Ghana and Honduras, and
also traveled and worked in
Tanzania for a summer and
spent a semester in Kenya.
She plans to pursue her Masters in Public Health.
Hanna Wolsfelt, ’04, graduated from Bentley University this
past May with a management
degree. She was on the cheerleading team, spent a summer
in Denmark, and last summer
had a fellowship to teach 8-12
year olds marketing at the
Explorations program at St.
Marks School.
R.J.Aquino, ’04, graduated
from Harvard, magna cum
laude, in Computer Science
and was also awarded a
M.Sci. degree in Computer
Science. While at Harvard, in
his senior year he taught 7th
and 8th graders at Mission
Hill School. Last summer he
moved to San Francisco to
work for Asana, Inc., a San
Francisco based enterprise
software company started by
Facebook co-founder Dustin
Moskovitz.
Stassja Sichko ‘04 just finished her junior year at Pomo-
na, having taken a gap year to
study French in Paris between
high school and college. At
Pomona, she is majoring in
Psychology and running Varsity
Cross Country and Track. This
summer, she received a grant
to work in a Psychology lab focused on child attachment and
emotions. According to her
mom, her track career started
on her walks home from LP,
when she would complain of
being too tired to walk and her
older brother, Demetri, would
trick her into running races,
giving himself a handicap, and
thereby ‘distracting her from
how tired she was.
Nadine Brennan, an ’05
graduate, is currently attending Massassoit Community
College in Canton.
Rachel Wolsfelt, 06, rowed
in the Duke University boat at
the Head of the Charles.
Myles Brennan, ’09, is
currently a junior at Southeastern Vocational Tech in South
Easton.
Nicole Hatton, ‘04, graduated
from Tufts University in May
with a degree in Economics. Nicole also finished the
2014 Boston Marathon as a
member of the Tufts Marathon team and played on the
Tufts Club Hockey Team and
coached hockey for her old
high school, Newton Country
Day. She is currently employed
as a Business Development
Representative with Hubspot
in East Cambridge.
Charlie Koskinen,’04, earned
a culinary degree and worked
in a variety of kitchens and
Katie Hayward, ’05 (a senior at Boston College) and Alex Fissler,
’07 (a sophomore at Syracuse University) atop Mt. Kilimanjaro
(19,000 feet!) this past summer.
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 17
ALUMNI
Ethan Pond, ’10, a junior at
The Greenwood School in
Vermont, was recently featured
in a Ken Burns film on the
Gettysburg Address called The
Address. Ethan attended the
LP graduation last June and
commented in an email,
”There was a spark there,
of kindness, of compassion,
of growth and a genuine
fondness and love of each
other...I suppose what makes
The LP truly great is that the
connections you make will
never leave you...[and] you’ll
always have a family, one that
welcomes you back with open
arms, kindness and warmth.”
Jared Rapoza, ’12, graduated
this year from Concord Middle
School and received The Rotary Award in Applied Technology
presented to the student “who
has demonstrated mastery
of Engineering and Applied
Technology’s principles and
whose work is most consistent with the spirit of Rotary
International.”
Rohan Seth, ’13, wrote a blog
during last summer’s World
Cup Tournament. He wrote previews and also summaries of
many of the games and made
64 predictions about outcomes. He was correct on 45.
Khai Buttner, ’14, made the
news this summer when he
hit a hole in one at the Maine
Junior Golf Championships.
As described on the Association website: “The shot of
the tournament belonged to
12-year-old Khai Buttner, who
aced the blind and uphill 17th
hole with a hybrid. For a few
minutes Khai and his fellow
competitors could not find his
ball and were looking long off
the green until someone finally
checked the hole and found
his ball safely at rest. Congratulations to Khai on taking care
of this career milestone at
such a young age!”
FACULTY
Chris Cardarelli, who was an
Intern in ’94-‘95 and again in
’95-‘96, stopped by for a visit
this summer. He is teaching
at the Stanwich School in Connecticut, a PK-12 school that
started in 1998, a year before
Chris joined the faculty. After
five years teaching second,
and nine years as Athletic Director, Chris returned last year
to teaching physical education
and coaching. He and his wife,
Deb (also a teacher) and their
two boys, Drew (10 ) and Cameron, (8) live in Stratford.
The (entire) CLASS OF 2014 at birthday party just after they had
all started 7th grade in new schools.
ment of Teaching, Learning,
and Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate
School of Education.
Mary Pelletier, fourth grade
teacher from 2001-2006, fifth
grade teacher from 20082012, and Kindergarten teacher from 2012 to 2014, moved
back this summer to the
family homestead in Bovina,
NY and is working part time in
the town library while her two
boys attend the elementary
school she attended just a
decade or so ago.
PARENTS
Jen Lesky, sixth grade teacher
and then Director of Programs,
and her husband and two girls
have moved to Cohasset.
Kimberly Brennan (P’05 and
P’09) is a leasing consultant
at the Greenhouse Apartments
on Huntington Ave.
Kathy Burns, third grade
teacher from 1999-2003
sent greetings to the Class of
2004. She and her husband
and two children live on the
Cape.
Phil Boyle, (P’93) and former
Chair of our Board, will be
retiring in December from a
long and distinguished career
as an attorney, many years
with Morgan, Brown and Joy.
He and his wife, Bobbie, split
their time between a home in
Maine and Colorado.
Jeremy Cutler, Intern for
the’96-’97 school year, has recently relocated to Cambridge
after many years working as
an Instructor in the Depart-
18 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
Victoria Griffth (P ’08 and
P’11) has published her sec-
ond book, Amazon Burning, a
novel for young adults (17+).
Josh Glenn (P ’10 and P’13)
has published a spin-off of his
widely acclaimed book, Unbored: A Serious Guide to Fun;
it is called Unbored Games,
in which he gives credit to LP
PE teacher, John Robinson for
certain contributions.
Anjali Sastry, mother of
Kiran ’11, and Harry ’13, has
co-authored a book published
by Harvard Business Review
Press entitled Fail Better:
Design Smart Mistakes and
Succeed Sooner. It was
released the same week we
were talking with our children about one of our school
themes—that ‘This is a place
where it is okay to make
(some kinds of) mistakes, but
it is better to not make the
same mistake over and over
again.” In the book’s Introduction, the authors write: “Our
starting point is the idea that
the right kind of failure—small
–scale, reversible, informative, linked to broader goals,
and designed to illuminate
key issues—paves the way to
success.”
The 2014 Annual Report
O
nce again, we have published our Annual Report online. We encourage you to visit www.learningproject.
org/give/annual-report in order to read about this
year’s fundraising at The LP. In the following pages,
we provide a summary of our fundraising achievement and
recognize donors to our Annual Fund.
We are constantly impressed by the generosity of our community, and we greatly appreciate each and every gift we receive
throughout the year. The following donors are the reason our
2014 LP Annual Fund was such a success.
Community Scholarships:
$249,700
$16,000
Fall Book Fair (net):
$7,400
Spring Auction (net):
$44,500
The Prindle Opportunity
Scholarship Fund:
$58,300
Funds for the Future:
$15,000
August Scholars:
$93,100
Counseling and
Educational Assistance:
$11,900
Emily Melia Travel
Scholarship for Awsomeness:
Maypole Circle
($10,000+)
Maud Cabot
The Crawford Foundation
AnnΔ and Thomas Fissler
Howard● and Sheila Galligan
The Sasquish Foundation
Breakdown of Giving 2013-2014
Annual Fund:
Giving Circles
Magnolia Circle
($5,000 - $9,999)
Colleen Brannen and Benjamin Brady
Juhi Ginger Dagli and Nirav Dagli
Sauiya Dossayeva and Assan Dossayev
Gary and Jill● Hatton
Cilla Lavin and Ira Goldklang●
Michael+ and Elisabeth+ McCord
Nicole and Bernie Nelson
Georgia PearsonΔ
Carl● ’79 and Elizabeth Prindle
$300
Tara and Scott Savitz
Total:$511,200
Terry and Matt Stone
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 19
Bow Tie Circle
($2,500 - $4,999)
Germaine and Michael Choe
Vicki and Brad Conner
Claire Corcoran and William Murphy
Alan Curtis and Gail● Eagan
James● and Michelle+ Duane
Cindy and Paul Gamble
Google Matching Gifts Program
Edward Gray● and Dina Catani
Andrew Hally and Gina Consylman
Sarah M. McGinty
Jan+ and BobΔ Hill
Yogesh Modak and Soumya Sivaraman
Robyn Kievit Kirkman
Gloria Maria Pedroza
Sandra+ and Will Lobkowicz
Sam Richardson '88
Kelli and Jeff Nace
Mark O'Brien and Anjali Sastry
Susan D. PrindleΔ
Jennipher Ray and Joe Feloney
Susan SargentΔ and David Taylor
David Seeley and Linda Bosse Seeley●
Sunil Sheth and Sonal Pandya
Karen and Louis Tompros
Arthur Ashley Williams Foundation
LampPost Circle
( $1,000 - $2,499)
Isabella and Chris Allen
Frank and Robin Ardito
Tony and Anne Fitzgerald
Stephanie and Thomas Fletcher
Philip and Anne Flink
Alicia Towns Franken● and Michael Franken
Graham '91 and Sarah Pingree
Linda Walker
Liz and Shauna Williams
Michael Yaffe and Sung-Yun Pai
Christopher YensΔ '80 and
Temple Gill
Raeleen and Charles Yoon
Rainbow Circle
($500 - $999)
Susan and Kurt Baker
Bill Bridgen and Laura Posten
Daniel Buzard and Bei Hung Chang
Jim and Ashton Goodfield
Kurt and Mary McAvity Cerulli
Benjamin Lee and Sarah Grant
Charles Duboc
Rob Loomis and Leslie Becker
Barryett Enge
Eileen McCormack and Edward Fleck
Daniel and Christie Fujimoto
20 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
Robert and Judith Sinsheimer
Tesfazion Tesfamariam and
Adiam Solomon
John and Nancy Tompros
Allan van Gestel
John H. Vogel and Judith A. Music
John Wadlington
Susan and Michael Ward
Wells Fargo Foundation
Robert Taylor and Carol Burns
Merry and Peter White
Jack and Patricia Thornton
Tanya Woodard
Margaret and Roderick Wagner
Star Circle ($1 - $249)
Anonymous
Robin and Adam Tweedy
Caroline Russ
Alessandro Rollo and Marta Bergamaschi
Abdul Aziz Alnuaimi and Aysha Alnuaimi
Bank of America Matching Gifts
The Joan and Leonard Engle
Family Foundation/Judy Clifford
Ralph Peteranderl and Diane Boucher
Sunshine Circle
($250 - $499)
Foundation, Inc.
Charlene and Fernando Domenech
Nicholas and Sheila Smithie
Robert Wolsfelt and Nancy LudwigΔ
Arbella Insurance Group Charitable
Jane Cook
Gregory Perkins and Rosalyn Gray
Charles and Elisa Walker
John● and Georgeanne Aquino
Bill and Toni Cook
William and Sophie Schmitt
William Robbins and Paula Luccio
Gabriel Wallach and Rachel Hamlin
John Conforti and Alexandra Cook
Greg Pakhladzhyan and
Jennifer Hayward Pakhladzhyan
Kate Olmsted+ and John Grossman
Ress Family Foundation
Robert teDuits and Nancy Roth
Jay Powers and Gina Powers
Marjorie and Simon Ringrose
Thomas Redekopp and Cathy Wong
Anil Seetharam and Monica Shah
Jose Carlos Pedroza and
John McGrail and Geraldine O'Hagan
Patricia QuinnΔ
Peter Schwechheimer and Martha Lurie
John Cannon and Diane Lim
HenryΔ and Joan Lee
Patty and Dick Pingree
John Nelson● and Alexandra Harvey
Murray Buttner
Peter McCord
Martha McNamara and Jim Bordewick●
Louise and Fritz Knabe
Erin and Rick● Borovoy
Philip and BobbieΔ Boyle
Katherine (Porkorny) Gundry● '96
William BarclayΔ and Beth TaylorΔ
David and Sveta Bartsch
Catherine and Tony Bordon
DeLacy and Lars Carlson
Martha+ and Tom Cesarz
Michelle Davis● and Craig Rochester
Tesfalem Ghebrezghi and Saba Zere
John Giangregorio and Leslie Colburn
Thatiana● and Matthew Gibson
Joshua GlennΔ and Susan Roe
Dorcas Grigg-Saito● and Yoshio Saito
James● and Ann Hackney
Larry Hardoon and Janet Fine
Lowell Vincent Kingsley
Kathleen Lehman
Demarest Lloyd Macdonald and
Michele Taipale
Vanessa and Nicholas Alonso
Mark Adler and Mary Birnbaum
Sheku Alieu '82 and Angela Alieu
Shisha Amabel and Anthony Ceravolo
American International Group, Inc.
Chanel Anderson '89 and Neil Lineberry
Tamer Anis and Arielle Ballard
R.J. Aquino '04
Sarah+ and Alex Arnold
Latha and Mukarram Attari
Anne+ and Bo Babcock
Tim Baehr and Ann Landsberg
Dan Balk+
Torrey Banks+
Burt Barachowitz and
Carmen Vega-Barachowitz
Ray J. Barnes and John M. Reilly
Susan Beebee+ and Joseph Gagnè
Ginny and Skip Berrien
Gabriela Bishop '03
Kris Boelitz '06
Oliver Bouchier and Daria Reagan
James Duane '96
Maya Bousek '13
Bruce Ehrlich and Lisa Mirowitz
Susie Boyle
David Encarnation '12
Arthur Erickson '84
Tom and Janet Brady
Paula Brassil
Lester Esser and Esther Vegh
Juliana+ and Noel Brinkley
Maggie Etienne
William Buckingham and
Margery Morgan Buckingham
Joanna Fairchild
Bridget Bulger '04
Cameron Feloney '13
Heather+ and Mark Ferrara
J. Michael Burns and Mary Jo Hollender
Caroline and Craig Buttner
Christopher+ and Debra Cardarelli
Benjamin Casselman '93
Robert Fortes● '82
Fidelity Foundation
Fiduciary Trust
Natalie Fisher
Frederick Casselman and
Susan Ashbrook
Cameron Fitzgerald
Linda and Joe Chafets
Hunter Flint '08
Bruce and Ilene Fleischer
Roberto Chao
Veronica Forde
Owen Chen and Anna Ham
Andrew+ and Suzanne Gallagher
Suzanne Garcia+
Citizens Bank
Arthur and Cynthia Colpack
Ann Conway and Edward Pearson
Erin (Duffy) Corbett+
George Crawford and Ann Rittenhouse
Carolyn Dekker+ and Daniel Bahls
Bryan Curran+
Mary and John DeMusis
Lindsey Dewar+
John and Gina Gillis
Jonathan and Laura Ginnis
Ruth Ginsberg-Place
Elizabeth Glater '87
Marilyn and David Glater
Max Glenn '13
Sam Glenn '10
Joyce and Mark Goldweitz
Luke Boelitz '02
Thomas and Laura Donnelly
Laura F. Goodfield '13
David and Barbara Bosse
Caitlin Duane '99
Jack and Mary Grant
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 21
Carol Patterson
Mrs. Solange Verna
Paul Kassabian and Monique Momjian
Ulana Pedersen
Diana Vogel Arnell '94 and Robert Arnell
Michelle Keating Burstein+ and
Daniel Burstein
Mary Pelletier+ and James Shaw
Justin Kisch '92
Eben Pingree '94
Margaret and Gene Pokorny
David Jolly+ and Royce Hardin
Michael Klein and Jill Lanahan
Klein Schottenfels Fund
Ronald Kulich and Marianne Gibbons
David Kunian '80
Sandra and Richard Lavallee
Martha and John Lazarus
Jennifer Leal+
Jen+ and Chris Lesky
Steven and Carrie Lubitz
Barbara and Rod Macdonald
Willem and Ulla Malkus
Alecia and Frank Manning
Christopher Gray '10
Timothy Gray '07
Victoria Griffith and Vinicius Gorgati
Katrina Grigg-Saito● '98
Adrian Hackney '13
Justin+ and Rachel Hajj
Ann Hargraves
Keeran and Satnarine Hariprasad
Jacob Hartwell+
Garrett Hatton '99
Jennifer Hatton '97
Jim Hatton '08
Nicole Hatton '04
Emma Hayhurst '18
Jamie and Billy Hayhurst
Karen Hayhurst
William and AnneΔ Hayward
Becka Hitchcock+
Hossein Hodjat
Nikan and Cathy Hodjat
Jane Howard
Janet Hurwitz
Katy Hutchinson+
Sara and Donald Marshall
Jasmine Martirossian
Arthur and Joanne Massaro
Robert and Susan Mayer
Joseph McConnell and Sara Rocha
Katherine I. McCord '96
Matthew McCord+ '02
Cathy McDermott
Jackson McDermott '09
Caitlin McDermott '11
Nora McNamara-Bordewick '10
Russell McNiven-Grossman+ and
Michael Grossman
Barbara Post
Lindsay Rabkin '01
Janice Randall
Mac Randall '83 and Laurie Jakobsen
Percy and Mary Nelson
Riley Nelson '08
Nicki Nichols Gamble
Peter Nowak
Eike Wintzer and Beth Mosher
Sarah+ and Christopher Wolf
Hanna Wolsfelt '04
Judith and Paul M. Wright
Jane B. Richardson
Caroline Wright '12
Paul and Angela Wright
Flor D. Rivera and Edgar Torres
Taylor Wright '10
John Robinson+ and
Hilary Kenworthy Robinson
Sara F. Zielinski '01
Bridget+ and Christopher Robustelli
Susan Roche and Richard Clark
Federico Rollo '13
Kristina Royal+
Emily (Lotze) Ryan+
John Salsberg and Holly Newman
Pamela Samuels-Fortes
James Yates and Julie Canfield
Honors and Memorials
The Following gifts were made in honor
of or in memory of members of our
Community.
In Honor of Julia Chafets
Linda Chafets
Steve Santoro and Lidia Vitiello
In Memory of Emily Grigg-Saito
Jay Schnitzer and Sara Roy
Katrina Grigg-Saito
Caroline Schmidt+
Griffin Seeley '01
Priscilla and Donald Shade
Peter Shapiro
Alicia (Lancaster) '80 and Raul Silva
Connie (Nichols) '98 and John Nelson
Susan and Marc Webb
Charleen Regan and John Stainton
Amber+ and Devin Ream
Wendy Michaelson and Barry Friedman
Mary Michalow+
Katharine Needham+
Emily Wasser
Rachel Wolsfelt '06
Julie Mercurio+
Alissa Myrick
Penny Wallin
Don and Jane Ray
Rohan Sheth ‘13
Casey (Garr) Miller '98
Kenneth and Sarah Wajda
Maura+ and Bob Shoop
Chanjoo Song and Sungwoo Kim
Dorcas Grigg-Saito and Yoshio Saito
Kristen Reed
Eriko Hirano
In Memory of Paul Prindle
Mary Bens
Susan D. Prindle
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Thornton
Daryl Stanton and Jennifer Sanchez
Owen Sullivan '13
Sean and Amy Sullivan
Eli Swab '09
Mark Swab and Noelle Dye
Vantrice Taylor
Connie F. Tippens
Kindly notify the Development office if we
have made an error in our listing.
Karen Torres '13
●Trustee
Nancy O'Malley and Martin Boelitz
Laurie Turner+
Charles Jeffrey and Veronica Jordan
William and Teresa Palmer
Diane Valle
+Current or Former Faculty
Gay Johnson
Christina+ and Patrick Pate
Peter and Albina Velikin
'YY Alumni
Gaetano Imbrogiano and Jen DiManno
M.E.+ and Chris O'Connor
John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.
22 • The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project
ΔBoard of Visitors
The LAMPPost | Magazine of The Learning Project • 23
NON-PROFIT
US POSTAGE
PAID
BOSTON, MA
PERMIT #53694
107Marlborough Street
Boston, MA 02116-1901
Address Service Requested
Class of 2014 Next Schools:
Boston Latin School, 9, Buckingham, Brown, & Nichols, 3, Catholic Memorial 1, and Roxbury Latin, 2.