Also Inside:
Honoring Fred Fayen | 2008 Letter-in-Life Award
Reunion Weekend | Hall of Fame Inductees | Faculty Awards
Class of 2008 Commencement
summer/FALL 2008
Thank you!
The 2008 Annual Fund
came to a close on June 30th
with more than 2,600 generous donors supporting Pingry
and helping us reach our goal of $2.2 million.
Thank you
for your commitment as Pingry continues to enrich
the lives of our students and alumni by
affording opportunities
that make the Pingry experience unique.
Thanks to your support, we are proud to continue
the tradition of excellence established by
Dr. John F. Pingry in 1861.
PINGRY
THE PINGRY REVIEW
6
11 Global and Community Outreach
Study Tour
To China
Headmaster Nat Conard and
six faculty members traveled
to China in March 2008 to
explore curriculum ideas.
Carolyn Gibson, assistant
director of the Lower School,
details the trip in this issue’s
cover story.
On the cover:
Faculty members Eileen Hymas, Carolyn
Gibson, Alice Brown, Trish Lowery, John
Crowley-Delman ’97, and Chris Irish, and
Headmaster Nat Conard on the Great Wall.
Students and faculty are constantly involved in giving back to their communities
and expanding their knowledge of the world, including Pingry’s collaborations with
New Jersey SEEDS and American Field Service (AFS).
26 Class of 2008 Commencement
A photo essay including student speakers and award recipients.
28Fred Fayen Retires
Reflections on Mr. Fayen’s 45 years of teaching, advising, and coaching at Pingry.
46 Letter-in-Life
Awarded to Bruce Jacobsen ’78, founder of Kinetic Books.
47 Reunion Weekend
A photo essay documenting the alumni who returned for two days of activities.
3
5
26
40
44
From the Headmaster
From the Chair
School News
Scene Around Campus
Alumni News
66
67
72
76
77
Ask the Archivist
Class Notes
In Memoriam
Dictum Ultimum
Alumni Calendar
Board of Trustees, 2007-2008
Victoria Brooks
Chair
Administration, 2007-2008
Nathaniel E. Conard
Headmaster
John B. Brescher, Jr. ’65
Vice Chair
Theodore M. Corvino, Sr.
Assistant Headmaster-Short Hills
Lower School Director
Edward S. Atwater IV ’63
Treasurer
Jonathan D. Leef
Assistant Headmaster-Martinsville
Upper School Director
Harold W. Borden ’62
Secretary
John W. Pratt
Chief Financial Officer
Alice F. Rooke
Assistant Secretary
what’s new
on our web site
news
www.pingry.org/about/news.html
See photo slideshows from the
Class of 2008 Commencement
and Lower School’s Moving
Up Day. Be sure to visit often
during the 2008-2009 school
year to keep up-to-date with
what’s happening at Pingry.
calendar
www.pingry.org/about/calendar.html
Find all the latest 2008-2009
calendar events, cancellations,
and reschedulings.
alumni
www.pingry.org/alumni/
We’ve improved our Email
Directory to reflect the most
current addresses that Pingry
has on file. Keep your classmates and friends informed
by submitting a Class Note.
Find this issue, as well as back
issues, of The Review available
as PDFs on the Alumni in the
News page. We’re posting photos in the Photo Gallery from
Reunion 2008 and will have
important news about Reunion
2009.
parents
www.pingry.org/about/parentnews.html
Visit Monthly Notices for
Parents for the latest letters
and announcements concerning
your child.
Cynthia Cuffie-Jackson
Anne DeLaney ’79
Jeffrey N. Edwards ’78
Miriam T. Esteve
E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78
John W. Holman III ’79
Megan Kellogg
Martin B. O’Connor II ’77
Terence M. O’Toole
Deryck A. Palmer
Dan C. Roberts
Barbara Leslie Saypol
Ian S. Shrank ’71
Julie A. Silbermann
Park B. Smith ’50
Henry G. Stifel III ’83
Geraldine I. Vitale
Audrey M. Wilf
Barry L. Zubrow
Honorary Trustees
David M. Baldwin ’47
Fred Bartenstein, Jr.
William S. Beinecke ’31
John P. Bent, Jr.
William M. Bristol III ’39
William V. Engel ’67
John W. Holman, Jr. ’55
Henry H. Hoyt, Jr. ’45
Warren S. Kimber, Jr. ’52
Stephan F. Newhouse ’65
Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. ’44
F. Helmut Weymar ’54
John C. Whitehead
Life Trustee
Robert B. Gibby ’31*
*
deceased
Reena Kamins
Director of Admission
Philip S. Cox
Middle School Director
Lydia B. Geacintov
Director of Studies
Melanie P. Hoffmann
Director of Development
Gerry Vanasse
Director of Athletics
Quoc Vo
Director of Information Technology
Office of Alumni Relations
Jacqueline Sullivan
Director of Alumni and Parent Relations
Miller Bugliari ’52
Special Assistant to the Headmaster
Kristen Tinson
Assistant Director of Alumni Relations
Pingry Alumni Association, 2007-2008
E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78
President
Sean W. O’Donnell ’75
Vice President
Sam Partridge ’92
Vice President
Norbert Weldon ’91
Vice President
John L. Geddes ’62
Treasurer
John Campbell III ’86
Secretary
Terms Expiring in 2008
Todd Burrows ’90
David Freinberg ’74
John Geddes ’62
Stewart Lavey ’63*
Cathleen Lazor ’88
H. David Rogers ’61
Kevin Schmidt ’98
Tracy S. Klingeman Stalzer ’84
Amy Warner ’78
Susan Barba Welch ’77
Terms Expiring in 2009
Albert Bauer ’45
Bradford Bonner ’93
John Campbell III ’86
Rebecca Frost ’94
Jane Hoffman ’94
Genesia Perlmutter Kamen ’79
Robert Kirkland ’48
Conor Mullet ’84
Samuel Partridge ’92
Mary Sarro-Waite ’01
William J. Silbey ’77
Gordon Sulcer ’61
Katrina Welch ’06
Norbert Weldon ’91
Terms Expiring in 2010
Mark Bigos ’79
Anthony Bowes ’96
Kyle Coleman ’80
Lisa Fraites-Dworkin ’81
Jonathan Gibson ’88
E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78
Robert Hough ’77
Peter Korn, Jr. ’89
Stuart Lederman ’78
Guy Leedom ’54
Steven Lipper ’79
William Mennen ’85
Sean O’Donnell ’75
Ronald Rice, Jr. ’86
Jonathan Robustelli ’90
Sandra Salter ’93
Jonathan Shelby ’74
Alison Zoellner ’83
Honorary Directors
Rob Hall ’54
Henry Kreh ’44
Editorial Staff
Greg Waxberg ’96, Editor
Communications Writer
Melanie Hoffmann
Director of Development
Barbara J. Reef
Director of Strategic Communications
Darren Greninger
Communications Associate
Design and Layout
Ruby Window Creative Group, Inc.
www.rubywindow.com
Art Direction
James S. Bratek
Web Manager and Graphic Designer
Photography
Bruce Morrison ’64
Bill Storer
Debbie Weisman
PINGRY
THE PINGRY REVIEW
The Pingry Review is the official magazine of The Pingry School, with the primary purpose of disseminating
alumni, school, faculty, and staff news and information. Comments can be sent to the editor at
The Pingry School, Martinsville Road, P.O. Box 366, Martinsville, NJ 08836
or gwaxberg@pingry.org.
A Letter from the Headmaster
We looked for curricular ideas, programs, and projects to
bring back or develop. We also explored possibilities for
partnerships of various kinds with the schools that we
visited, and the trip proved educational and inspiring
for all of us. Carolyn Gibson, assistant director of the
Lower School, describes the trip and our group’s experiences in this issue’s cover story.
Our visit was part of a larger mission—Pingry’s strategic
goal of seeking global connections and extending education beyond the borders of the Martinsville and Short
Hills Campuses. That idea of global connections is the
theme of this issue of The Pingry Review, which explores
our students’ and faculty members’ commitment to
community and global outreach.
Dear Members of the
Pingry Community,
In Alumni News, we profile the late Dr. Robert H. LeBow
’58. An author and public speaker, he spent his career
advocating for health care reform around the world.
To honor his legacy, members of the Class of 1958
established the annual Robert H. LeBow Oratorical
Competition at Pingry. On the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of his class’s graduation, his wife and
classmates reflect on his life and career. The Alumni
section also has many photos from Reunion Weekend,
one of our most popular annual events.
I am looking forward to welcoming you back to
the Pingry campuses when the new school year
starts in September.
Sincerely,
Nathaniel E. Conard
3
summer /fall 2008
Usually on this page, you see me somewhere
on the Pingry campus. For this photograph
taken in March 2008, Terra Cotta Warriors
in China are the backdrop. During Spring
Break, I joined six Pingry faculty members,
two representatives from the program
Facing History and Ourselves, five faculty
members from the Riverdale Country
School, and a group leader from the China
Institute for a 10-day study tour to China.
The trip was made possible by a Lower
School parent who believes, as we do, that
the relationship between China and the
United States is critical for the future.
This past January, faculty member Fred Fayen decided to
retire at the conclusion of the 2007-2008 school year. Fred
joined the faculty in 1963, and he has taught history and
English, advised students during the college application
process, coached, and directed the Guidance program,
among other important contributions to the school.
Fred was honored several times this year, and I hope you
enjoy reading the articles about his Pingry career, including an article about a new fund being established in his
name. Few have ever served a school and its students
more loyally, cheerfully, calmly, and effectively for as
many years as Fred has given to the students of Pingry.
From the Editor
Noted Corrections
As a Pingry alumnus, I am delighted
to have joined the Communications
Department as a writer and photographer, covering events at both
the Martinsville and Short Hills
Campuses. Having attended Pingry
for seven years, I am pleased to be
involved with many aspects of the
school’s communication initiatives.
In this new position, I have assumed
leadership of The Review, and this is
my first issue overseeing the editorial
process. One of my goals for the
magazine is to include the Pingry
community—students, faculty, staff,
parents, alumni, and trustees—as
much as possible in every issue.
To help make this vision a reality,
I encourage you to contact us if you
have a story idea, if you would like
to be a contributing writer for future
issues, or if you would like to write a
Letter to the Editor. The Review is for
anyone with a connection to Pingry,
and I want you to feel welcome to
participate in the creative process.
Photo essays are a new feature presented in this issue. To capture the
numerous events happening yearround at both campuses, we are
letting photographs do more of the
talking. We hope you enjoy seeing
more of the special moments.
4
Now, please explore Pingry’s involvement in global and community
outreach, and I am looking forward
to sharing more of the Pingry
experience in future issues.
the pingry review
Sincerely,
Greg Waxberg ’96
Communications Writer
Please note the following corrections
from our Winter 2008 issue:
In the obituary about Andrew
H. Campbell ’49 on page 54, the
survivors include his son Drew
Campbell ’81.
The article about Bud Ackley ’26 on
page 34 lists Emory ’60 and Wes ’64
as his sons who attended Pingry,
but we divided Wes (Emory Westlake
Ackley ’60) into two people. Wes
Ackley ’60 and George Davison
Ackley ’64 are the sons who
attended Pingry.
Upcoming issues:
Fall 2008: Athletics. We would
like to hear from you if you are a
professional athlete or coach, or
if you coach college athletics.
Winter 2009: 25 years since the
opening of the Martinsville Campus.
We would like to hear from you if
you are a member of the Class of
1984 or if you would like to share
memories of moving to the new
campus.
As this issue was going to press,
we learned that Richard Weiler,
a member of the Pingry faculty
from 1954 to 1994, passed away
on September 5. Mr. Weiler is
featured in this issue as a 2008
inductee of Pingry’s Athletic
Hall of Fame to recognize his
accomplishments as a lacrosse
and swimming coach. An obituary will appear in the next issue
of The Pingry Review.
In the “Noted Corrections” on page
4, we referred to the article about the
Kellogg family in the Winter/Spring
2007 issue, but we neglected the full
correction. The sequence should read
“great-great-great-great-grandfather”
with a hyphen between “great”
and “grandfather” to indicate the
relationship.
In the Spring Sports 2007 section
on page 27, the baseball team’s record
was 11-10, not 12-15.
In a caption for Class Notes on
page 51, Elizabeth Roberts is listed
as graduating in 2008, but she is
a member of the Class of 2009.
Because of an editing error, the
article about the founding of The
Buttondowns on page 17 incorrectly
states that Brett Boocock’s wife
Betsy suggested the group’s name.
It was Mr. Boocock’s first wife Sarah
who thought of the name.
A Message from the Chair
Given my retirement this June as an
active trustee, this is my final letter
to you as Chair of the Board of
Trustees. It has been an honor and
a privilege to lead the Board on
behalf of Pingry.
Pingry strongly encourages community activity both locally and globally. As you will read in this issue,
Pingry students, faculty, and alumni
are constantly expanding their
understanding of the community
and the world through outlets such
as these:
•The Martinsville and Short Hills
Campuses have extensive community service programs.
•Teachers use field trips to supplement the classroom experience.
•Our students are pen pals with
students overseas.
Randfontein Municipality of South
Africa, who shared her story of
resisting apartheid.
Also in this issue, we honor teacher,
coach, and college counselor Fred
Fayen, who has retired after a 45-year
career at Pingry. According to the
popular saying, Mr. Fayen wore
“numerous hats” after he joined
the faculty in 1963, and we will
miss his presence in the classroom.
We wish him well.
Sincerely,
Vicki Brooks PP ’02, ’04
Trustee
A Tribute to Vicki Brooks
•The school has, for many years,
participated with American
Field Service (AFS) to ensure
that students who are interested
in going overseas have the opportunity to immerse themselves in
new cultures.
•Thanks to a few of our students,
we hosted a two-day visit this past
February by the Speaker of the
Joining Headmaster Nat Conard and Park B. Smith ’50 at the dedication of The Carol and Park B.
Smith ’50 Middle School in November 2006
5
summer /fall 2008
Addressing the faculty and student body during Convocation in
September 2007
Receiving The Cyril and Beatrice Baldwin Pingry Family Citizen of the Year
Award from Headmaster Nat Conard during Commencement in June 2008
[ global/community outreach ]
faculty members immerse themselves in
the wonders
of china
6
the pingry review
During March break in 2008, Headmaster Nat Conard and six faculty
members were privileged to tour historic sites and key schools in China
for 10 days. Library Director Eileen Hymas, Upper School history teacher
John Crowley-Delman ’97, Middle School science teacher Trish Lowery,
Middle School history teacher Alice Brown, Lower School math specialist
Chris Irish, and I were selected to participate in this golden opportunity
after submitting answers to a series of questions posed by the Pingry
administration to elicit our educational aims.
By Carolyn Gibson
Assistant Director of the Lower School
Photo Inset: Eileen Hymas, left, and John Crowley-Delman ’97,
right, with college students from Shaanxi Normal School
who were tour guides in Xi’an.
7
summer /fall 2008
[ global/community outreach ]
Lawrence from the China Institute,
the New York City-based organization
whose mission since 1926 has been to
foster understanding and curriculum
development about China.
We expected to board a plane filled
with Chinese passengers, but, in a
clear globalization lesson, the aircraft
was pulsing with young Latin
American business students singing
Spanish pop songs in the aisles.
I felt a sensation of tilt, a shift in
tectonic plates toward a new center
of the world.
Mrs. Ming Liu, Stephanie Chen, Mr. Guo Qing Chen, Headmaster Nat Conard, John Crowley-Delman ’97,
Trish Lowery, Alice Brown, Eileen Hymas, Chris Irish, and Carolyn Gibson
The Pingry China Tour was generously sponsored by Shirley and Walter
Wang, former Pingry parents whose
three children had attended the
Short Hills Campus before the family
moved to California this past year.
The goal of the trip was to provide
some firsthand knowledge of both
ancient and modern China, beyond
western news reporting, in the hope
that we could provide enriched
curricular offerings to our students
and establish possible exchange
opportunities.
8
the pingry review
We gathered in the morning at
Newark Airport, excited, and a little
shy, dressed in our various interpretations of comfortable clothes for a
13-hour flight to Beijing. For us,
mostly middle-aged schoolteachers
and administrators (with a welcome
sprinkle of young educators) from
Pingry and the Riverdale Country
School in New York City, it was the
ultimate field trip, a journey to the
other side of the world.
At the airport we surrendered our
passports and customary authority to
our knowledgeable tour leader Kevin
Kevin Lawrence alerted us to be
prepared to see incredible growth and
construction throughout the trip, yet I
was still blown away by the vast tracts
in every city we visited of new buildings,
cranes, and construction sites. As China
continues to embrace and prosper in its
relatively new-found capitalist fortunes,
this physical growth will continue to
both house and mirror the growth in
human capital and economic development. And yet these buildings also speak
to the toils of the oft-marginalized migrant workers and exponential increase
in resource consumption. One memory
comes to mind. Our first evening we
watched the sun set over Beijing; the
Forbidden City in the foreground, a row
of cranes in the distance. Even then,
I could not help but be struck by the
cranes as symbols of China’s future:
uncertain, yet promising.
alice brown
At the Beijing Capital International
Airport, the convergence of nations
continued as we surged to the lines
for customs; my first impression was
of a swept-clean expanse of public
space. Uniformed women scurried
forward and mopped any disruption
of the sanitized image. Our band of
wayfarers huddled together, a little
disconcerted by the calligraphic signs,
the lack of any starting point with
the language, no handy Latinate cognates. We inched up to the windows
marked “FOREIGNERS” and were
checked through by smiling officials.
I was amused by the row of buttons
on each booth to register quality of
service—my introduction to a city
that was anxious to be judged friendly
and competent in this Olympic year.
We were pleasantly surprised to see
a welcome sign held by employees
of the Chen family, the parents of
Stephanie Chen from Pingry’s Form
I. Later in the trip, they hosted us at
a fabulous banquet in the Emperor’s
Summer Palace; the juxtaposition of
such an exotic setting and Stephanie
conversing with us in her Pingry-blue
sweatshirt was typical of the dramatic
contrasts of this land. Beijing was a
startling place. From a viewing pavilion restored with vivid colors and
gilded paint, we stood in the dry
wind from the Gobi Desert and
looked out over the imperial majesty
of the Forbidden City. The tiled roofs
were golden in the setting sun like
sails adrift in a timeless history, and
My favorite city was Xi’an. I enjoyed
our time with Education Majors from
Shaanxi Normal University campus.
They escorted us to the city wall, a
Muslim bazaar, and a tour of a mosque.
The tour around the top of the old city
wall was fascinating. I was intrigued
by the vast number of apartments that
had solar water heaters on their roofs.
I was impressed by the environmental
awareness of the people I spoke to. The
ideas of cleaning the environment and
saving energy were part of a number of
discussions that made it clear to me that
there was a general sense of the need for
change. I was also surprised by the lack
of paper products. Many times during
our meals, napkins would appear, but
typically they were halved or even quartered. I certainly come back to the U.S.
with a much clearer sense of how very
wasteful we are.
trish lowery
the skyline of a modern city formed
a thrusting concrete and steel landscape behind the cloistered hush. The
next day, we walked to the vast sweep
On the fourth day, we began our
school visits at the Yucai School, a
handsome high school with a proud
history and an affiliated international
school. We were struck by the
strangeness of the large classes and
the familiarity of teenaged students
moving about with scholarly purpose
and a sense of entitlement. As in
many of the high schools we visited,
the principal sounded the refrain
that China’s “one child” policy had
created a school population that is
“somewhat spoiled” and lacks interest
in community service because the
students are so focused on getting
into prestigious universities as an
entry point for lucrative careers!
Next, we visited the Dandelion
Shirley Wang
The trip to China was sponsored
by Shirley and Walter Wang, philanthropists based in California
with multiple connections to
Pingry: their three children—
Walter, Chantalle, and Matthew—
attended the Lower School during
the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007
school years; their niece Lena
Young graduated from Pingry in
2006; their nephew David is a
member of the Class of 2008; and
their nephew Andrew will be a
sophomore at Pingry this fall.
Shirley serves on the boards of the
China Institute and Facing History
and Ourselves, a professional development organization for teachers.
“The U.S.-China relationship is
critical for the future. If we’re going
to teach our future generations,
it’s best that we teach our teachers
first. You can talk about China, you
can read about China, but seeing is
believing. For people to understand
each other is to see each other and
know each other, rather than just
talk about each other,” Shirley says.
“If Pingry is going to make leaders
of the world, then these leaders
need to know about the world.”
The Pingry School is indebted to
Shirley and Walter for their generosity and vision that enabled seven
members of the school community
to experience China this spring.
9
summer /fall 2008
Nighttime view of Shanghai
of Tiananmen Square with its imposing Soviet-style buildings and huge
posters of Mao. We witnessed the
raising of the red flag in the gray
dawn surrounded by domestic tourists
from all corners of China snapping
pictures on their cell phones while
sober-faced soldiers choreographed
the clustering of the crowd. That
same day, we climbed on the Great
Wall at Mutianyu and felt stupefied
by the power of a culture that could
have created such an outsized
“dragon” snaking across the rims
of distant hills.
[ global/community outreach ]
School, the first middle school for the
children of migrant workers—a desperately poor “floating population”
of children from far-flung rural provinces living in the cities where their
parents provide the labor for China’s
rapid rise. When the young teachers
in jeans asked us for pedagogical
advice, we bowed our heads in admiration of their commitment and
resourcefulness; they were already
employing enlightened teaching
methods (including Howard Gardner’s
Theory of Multiple Intelligences) to
help these transplanted kids bloom.
We traded English sentences with the
eager children for an hour; they had
been practicing the future tense
(“I will be . . . an astronaut.”) and,
for the first time in their lives, they
have a future.
We were on our way to Xi’an with its
ancient wonders and contemporary
schools. We were charmed by
the wide smiles and investigatory
methods for teaching math in a
10
the pingry review
Terra Cotta Warriors
fourth-grade class at the Fuxiao
Primary School. Guided by personable young teachers in training from
the Shaanxi Normal School, we
visited a Muslim mosque and bazaar
which challenged our notion of
China as one culture. The next day,
we gazed silently at the thousands of
terra cotta warriors with their arresting individualized faces marching out
of the earth to protect an emperor
in the afterlife and signify his power
in this world—relics on an imperial
scale unimaginable to visitors from
an upstart American culture.
Shanghai beckoned with its futuristic architecture and rickety pedicabs,
and we spent the last leg of our trip
on a whirlwind tour of a city that
dwarfs the Big Apple. We enjoyed
a rushed excursion to Suzhou with
its narrow canals, and we visited
high schools that spanned the ages.
Suzhou Provincial High School was
established as a Confucian Academy
1,000 years ago, but it has a pristine
extension campus that rivals the
gleam of Pingry’s new Middle School.
At the last of many dinners, one of
our educator hosts quoted an apt
Chinese saying, “Every banquet has
an ending.” For 10 days, images had
spun past us of a storied land of contradictions—a country concerned not
only with with the massive redirection of water, desert sand, migrant
workers, and Shanghai traffic, but
also with the preservation of ancient
core values; a country striving to
conserve the environment in the
face of runaway growth, a culture of
candid people and television screens
that went blank to censor disturbing
glimpses of Tibetan monks. We
shared a singular feast and will savor
our memories. In the darkness of the
plane cabin, we sat quietly and
watched the tiny graphic aircraft on
the glowing monitor turn sharply and
head for home, arcing over the ridges
of mountains with names we struggled to pronounce.
Martinsville Campus Community Service, Then and Now
By Upper School faculty member and Community Service Coordinator Shelley Hartz
joined him on a Saturday near the
Hillside Campus to participate. Since
that time, Community Service and
Pingry have always worked well
together. What began as a club
blossomed into a strong community
commitment by administration, faculty, and students. The Community
Service program is an integral part
of both the school’s curriculum and
its educational philosophy, and its
goals are to help students develop
character and integrity and build
self-confidence. As a result, this
program benefits both the volunteers
as well as the many community
recipients.
Middle and Upper School students and faculty sort food at the Food Bank in Hillside on Rufus Gunther Day
According to Vicki Grant, Upper
School English teacher and former
Head of Community Service, the
objective of having a community service requirement was “. . . to make
Community Service a part of each
student’s education in order to create
more involved citizens of the world.”
One of the school’s first community
service events took place in 1970 to
observe Earth Day. Miller Bugliari
’52, head of the science department
at the time, thought of the idea that
students who were interested in the
environment could help clean up the
Elizabeth River; almost 200 students
11
summer /fall 2008
About 20 years ago, Pingry’s French
teacher Phyllis Dayer started
Community Service as a club.
Donna Stone, former English
teacher and Head of Forms III and
IV, formalized the club into a
Community Service organization
with faculty involvement, requiring
a 10-hour student commitment.
Every Pingry Middle School and
Upper School student is required
to complete this minimum amount
of service by the end of May. A
student can complete his or her
requirement doing summer volunteer work and may serve a maximum of three hours at Pingry.
The program provides Pingry students with opportunities to share
their time and talents with the
larger community.
Our students understand the
responsibility of giving back to
the larger community, and I am
proud of Pingry’s dedication to
community service and our longterm involvement with a variety
of different organizations. These
organizations include the Matheny
Medical and Educational Center, a
special hospital in Peapack for children and adults with developmental
Community Service Coordinator Shelley Hartz helps students load the BRIDGES truck in May 2008
[ global/community outreach ]
disabilities; ECLC in Chatham;
Rock Brook School in Skillman
for communication-impaired and
disabled children; BRIDGES
Outreach, Inc., which delivers
food and clothing to the homeless
in New York; Special Olympics;
Kids for Cancer Research Fund;
The John Taylor Babbitt (JTB)
Foundation; Lift for Learning,
which helps families who need
food at Thanksgiving and clothing
and toys at Christmas; and The
Community Food Bank of New
Jersey in Hillside.
Pingry also brings community service home. The Intergenerational
Prom is a favorite event for senior
citizens in our area and our students,
who act as hosts for the evening—
while our Cabaret evening program,
another community service event,
spotlights our musically-talented students and, at the same time, raises
money for a designated charitable
organization.
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the pingry review
The annual Rufus Gunther Day
celebration involves the entire
Martinsville Campus in a day
designated for community service.
Students have a myriad of opportunities: sorting food at the food bank,
folding origami cranes for families
battling cancer, making fleece
blankets for children with a lifethreatening illness, preparing mailings, and cleaning up the cemetery
of Lamington Presbyterian Church
in Bedminster. Whatever the need,
the entire school volunteers their
time and efforts.
Many of our students volunteer with
organizations with which they have
a personal connection while others
work with organizations that span
the globe. In each case, students
are committed to volunteer service,
and their commitment can help
change a life, a family, a neighborhood, a community, a country—
and even the world.
Short Hills Campus Community Service:
Placing the Focus on Hands-On Projects
By faculty member and Community Service Coordinator Cathleen Everett
Kindergarten student Kazi Holston with his Humane Hero Award certificate from St. Hubert’s Animal
Welfare Center
The Short Hills Campus abounds
with many blessings: the laughter of
happy children eager to begin their
day, classrooms filled with inquisitive
minds, hallways decorated with art
that only a child’s vision could create,
the inexhaustible energy of students
on athletic fields, the strains of music
from a chorus or an orchestra, a campus of incomparable beauty, teachers
who forge bonds with students that
last a lifetime, and so much more.
With all of these blessings, it is essential that our young children realize
the importance of creating a meaningful community within the school
and reaching beyond this community
to make a difference. By connecting
to the world at large, they will learn
from others and enrich their own
lives. Engaging in hands-on community service projects is a priority of the
Short Hills Campus.
With this in mind, the campus
initiated a buddy system that pairs
older children with younger students.
Buddy classes engage in activities
throughout the year to foster
friendships and a deeper sense of
community. Buddies also help each
other with various community service
projects. Younger children are often
seen in the hallways waving to their
newly-found older friends and looking
forward to their next gathering.
The Kindergarten classes put pizzazz
into their community service
projects. They make dog biscuits in
the classroom to be given to their
furry friends at St. Hubert’s Animal
Welfare Center in Madison where
they learn how to care for animals.
The children were given the Humane
Hero Award for their efforts in
supporting St. Hubert’s mission to
alleviate the suffering and neglect
of companion animals.
The Kindergarteners also put their
hearts and souls into the making of
valentines and the practicing of songs
for the residents of King James Care
Center in Chatham. Just to hear their
innocent voices must give happiness
and comfort to all of those who listen.
As part of Pingry’s curriculum on
communities, the first-grade students
deliver snacks daily to the entire
school; they become familiar faces
to all of us. They vary their other
projects from year to year.
The second-grade students have had
a close relationship over the years
with Jersey Battered Women’s Service
(JBWS) in Morris Plains and have
centered their projects around Women
in History Month. They also decorate
holiday wreaths with toys and candy
for those at Children’s Specialized
Hospital in Mountainside, write letters to the children at the St. Jude
Ranch in Arizona, and annually sort
and cut over 1,000 holiday cards used
for arts and crafts classes at the ranch.
The third-grade students have had an
ongoing and special connection with
Children’s Specialized Hospital for
many years. Their projects center
around the needs of these truly special
children. And, of course, there is the
legendary Mitten Tree. Students have
been decorating trees for 21 years
with mittens, scarves, and hats, and
donating them to the Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota, Lift for
Learning in Elizabeth, and Children
and Family Services in Elizabeth.
Kindergarten students Tyler McLaughlin, Leah
Edwards, and Dominic Mendelsohn make dog
biscuits for St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center
These journal entries were written
by fourth-grade students after
they visited Harmony House.
“Harmony House was a fantastic experience. It will live with me for the rest
of my life. The mural on the wall at
Harmony House told a story. The
mural had the words love, peace, hope,
and harmony at the top. The words told
me that even if you are having a hard
time or your family is going through
problems, remember to always have
love, peace, hope, and harmony in your
heart. That’s what these kids were going
through. If we have love, peace, hope,
and harmony, this should help us along
the way, especially going down that
bumpy, rough road that everyone goes
down once in a while. The girl I met at
Harmony House looked just like an old
friend, an old friend named Eudora,
the kind of friend you need to give you
a jumpstart when you’re feeling blue.
Laughter, happiness, joy, and loving
smiles were the reaction on these cheerful kids’ faces when we walked in the
door. It was a great honoring moment
for me.” – Ursula Dedekind
same everywhere. They also realize
that, sometimes by happenstance, others do not have as many advantages.
Fourth-grade students also organize
Box Tops for Education by decorating
collection containers for each homeroom and keeping a tally for the entire
school. They cheer us on because they
know that each box top will make
a difference to the Midland School,
which serves 245 developmentallydisabled students.
Another long-term relationship is
with BRIDGES Outreach, Inc. Each
year, the fifth-grade students pack and
decorate over 180 bags for individual
suppers—they make sandwiches and
place fruit, chips, dessert, and a beverage in every bag. A very important
part is their handwritten note of
Have you ever had a poem of thanks
written to you by a poet laureate?
Well, the K-5 string members have.
After performing at Ridge Oak Senior
Housing in Basking Ridge, the former
poet laureate of Bernards Township
did just that.
K-5 students annually create holiday
paintings, valentines, and drawings
for veterans in VA hospitals in East
Orange and Basking Ridge and residents of 15 senior citizen homes.
This year marked the 15th year of the
“Sharing Halloween with Others”
project; students donate some of their
Halloween candy to be given to food
banks and soup kitchens. They sort
Fourth-grade students Harry Woods, Spencer
Spellman, and John Lima visit with children at
Harmony House
13
summer /fall 2008
The fourth-grade visit to Harmony
House in Newark is a favorite annual
event. Harmony House is a transitional housing facility for families in need
in Newark. The students collect children’s winter gear to be brought there,
but the fun is in the making of new
friends—they gather with the children of Harmony House in their play
room to chat, snack, and play games.
This experience opens their eyes to
a whole new world by making the
students realize that children are the
Harmony House
Revelations
encouragement. One student wrote,
“It means a great deal for me to make
this sandwich for you during these
rough times. I hope it fills your stomach and makes you realize that you
have a friend who cares.” One homeless woman actually saved all of her
notes from those who reached out to
her. They are her prized possessions,
and our students view a copy of her
notebook each year. The Short Hills
Campus joined the Martinsville
Campus in the “Fill the Truck” project
for BRIDGES. The fifth-grade community service theme is Hunger. The
students launched their annual Bake
Sale for Hunger to purchase food
certificates for Millburn residents who
are referred to the Red Cross. The
students also decorated lunch bags
and wrote notes to those who participate in the Summit Helps Its People
(SHIP) program in Summit.
[ global/community outreach ]
and pack over 25 shopping bags of
candy each year.
October’s “Think Pink Day for Susan
G. Komen for the Cure” finds the
campus ablaze in pink as K-5 students
wear that color and raise awareness
for breast cancer.
The Student Council was very excited
about the launching of an annual
Community Service Assembly, which
they conducted. Each grade had the
opportunity to share their favorite
community service projects with the
entire K-5 campus.
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the pingry review
The men and women who serve our
country have never been far from
our students’ hearts and minds. Each
year, many of the students write and
decorate letters to soldiers with close
connections to Pingry. In fact, one
year, the second-grade students were
made honorary members of the
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
by Commanding Officer Patrick
Donahue. He thanked them for their
kindness. This year, the fifth-grade
students wrote heartfelt letters to
Captain Larry Obst ’97 and his company of 80 soldiers in Iraq. The students knew that he had walked the
halls of our campus as a child—Larry
attended Pingry from Grade 2 at the
Short Hills Campus through Form IV
at the Martinsville Campus. Larry
returned home safely in January of
this year. The students also provided
toiletry supplies for 50 soldiers
returning to Fort Hood, Texas.
There are currently 12 soldiers from
Summit who are deployed to Iraq or
Afghanistan, and it means so much to
them to hear from children at home.
In conjunction with hands-on activities, students and their families have
been very creative—collecting slightly-used items that can make all the
difference to others. Cell phones have
been donated to shelters for battered
women. Empty ink cartridges raise
funds for FOP. Eyeglasses go to New
Eyes for the Needy. Hotel toiletries
and gently-used clothing are distributed to shelters. Athletic equipment
provides tons of fun at Happiness Is
The Suzuki Strings, students in Kindergarten through Grade 5, perform at Ridge Oak Senior Housing
Camping, a free camp for children
with cancer. Two of our students
volunteer at the camp with their
mother who is a nurse. This is just
a sampling of how students make a
difference to improve communities
and the lives of those in need.
Harmony House Revelations
“This project fit in to our school’s Honor
Code because the Code says not to be
selfish and to help people who do not
have all the great things we have. Now
I know that I should never complain
about my life.” – Caroline Terens
“I connected the trip to Harmony
House with a program I participate in
at my church which also involves the
homeless. Both programs are trying to
help people in need to get through a difficult stage in their lives. Both programs
give care, love, and shelter. This trip is
important for Pingry students because
it shows their appreciation and feelings
for everyone.” – Ben Shepard
“At Harmony House I met a girl named
Shanay. Shanay reminded me of my sister because she was older and just as
nice. They look alike and are both freespirited. They don’t go with the flow.
They make their own flow. Harmony
House was a wondrous place to visit,
and I hope I can return again some day.”
– Jackson Artis
Students and their families also help
others by initiating Dress Down
Days. Each day tells the story of a
child’s personal involvement with
an organization that helps others.
The Pingry School philosophy is the
basis for all community service. It states: “We want our students to
know themselves, to respect themselves, and to develop their individual
strengths while having a strong sense
of personal ethics, personal morality,
and social responsibility. Further, we
want them to be aware of the needs of
others, of the place of personal courtesy, and of the importance of mutual
respect. Woven through all of Pingry’s
endeavors is the objective of developing character. The school seeks to
teach students respect for the rights of
others, an appreciation of traditional
values and cultural differences, the
ability to work with others, and a
sense of social responsibility.”
As part of the human community,
Pingry students discover that each
person has unique gifts of the spirit
which are to be respected and that we
must share with and learn from one
another. We are all on this journey
together. Some school lessons fade
with time, but the lessons learned
from reaching out to, touching, and
being touched by the lives of others
will last a lifetime. Pingry students
can make a difference in the world,
one step at a time. Here at the Short
Hills Campus, this is our endeavor.
Pingry Helps NJ SEEDS Prepare Students
for Private School
As part of Pingry’s community outreach, the school partners with New
Jersey SEEDS—Scholars, Educators,
Excellence, Dedication, Success—a
statewide, non-profit organization
that provides students from lower
economic backgrounds with academic preparation for independent day
and boarding schools and, in turn,
enables these schools to enroll qualified students from diverse backgrounds.
Former Pingry Headmaster John
Hanly was one of three key founders
of SEEDS in 1992, and Honorary
Trustee Bill Engel ’67 has been an
active member of the SEEDS Board
from the start. Pingry, one of the
original four “site” schools, offers its
campus for the SEEDS preparatory
programs in the summer and on
Saturdays during the school year.
He set up a meeting at Pingry with
heads of schools and admissions personnel. After the meeting, they
established a committee to draw up
plans for the organization, and they
presented the guidelines to the New
Jersey Association of Independent
Schools. Two of the major obstacles
were transportation (not an issue in
New York because of subways and
buses) and how to recruit students.
As a result, SEEDS provides bus service; high school guidance counselors
and local community groups, including churches, synagogues, and the
YMCA, assist with recruiting.
To be eligible for SEEDS, the income
cap is $59,000 for a family of four,
with a $5,000 increase for each additional family member; SEEDS helps
to negotiate the financial aid packages which the schools provide for
these worthy scholars.
The SEEDS Scholars Program lasts
14 months and spans three phases.
The first takes place during the summer after Grade 7 and involves 200
students, 100 of whom are invited
Toreyan Clarke, Jr. ’07
Mrs. Wolfson’s “Economics:
Principles & Issues” course was a
fundamental part of my junior year at
Pingry because it was my first authentic experience with a business venture.
A major part of our final grade in the
course was the class project, and it
was expected to be unique and wellexecuted. In a class with about six
other juniors and seniors, we first
came up with the company name
“Sacrébleu,” meaning ‘sacred blue,’
a name I proposed after hearing the
word in French class the day before.
Our product was a royal blue Nalgene
with the school insignia and “Pingry
Pride” imprinted on opposite sides in
white lettering. We developed a business plan based on the principles we
learned throughout the semester,
received approval and a loan to jumpstart our project, and began advertising our new product throughout the
Pingry community. We were successful with the execution of our business
plan and we donated all of our proceeds to charity. The opportunity to
be involved with such a project would
probably have been inconceivable had
I been in an environment other than
at Pingry where the sky is the limit for
its students. I will forever hold The
Pingry School in the utmost esteem.
Toreyan Clarke, Jr. was a Pingry
Class of 2007 SEEDS Scholar.
He is attending Colby College.
15
summer /fall 2008
Mr. Hanly’s idea for SEEDS was
inspired by Prep for Prep, founded
in New York City in 1978 by public
school teacher Gary Simons. Mr.
Hanly taught English at Prep for
Prep on weekends and weekday evenings for about five years. Prep for
Prep—based on the concept of
preparing students for preparatory
schools—identifies talented students
of color, prepares them for placement in academically-demanding
independent schools, and provides
peer support. While Prep for Prep
only accepts students of color,
SEEDS is open to students from
every racial and ethnic background.
“If kids of any background are to succeed at a school with a different program, you must prepare them thoroughly and rigorously. I realized that
we had to do something similar in
New Jersey because there was very
little diversity at Pingry and [my]
colleagues in New Jersey said the
same [about their schools]. They
wanted to get a more diverse student
population, but weren’t sure how to
go about it,” Mr. Hanly says.
back based on their commitment
and academic performance. The
second phase takes place on 20
Saturdays during Grade 8, when
the students take academic courses,
prepare for the Secondary School
Admission Test (SSAT), and apply to
secondary schools. The third phase
takes place during the summer after
Grade 8, when students spend five
weeks at a boarding program hosted
by the Lawrenceville School. The
scholars then enter independent high
school as freshmen.
[ global/community outreach ]
SEEDS also has a program for
younger students, the Young
Scholars Program. Kooheli Chatterji
’93, Pingry Middle School Dean
of Students and former dean of
the SEEDS Pingry site, worked on
establishing this program during
her internship with SEEDS in
1995. She says the Young Scholars
Program starts the transitional
process even sooner than the
SEEDS Scholars Program.
“As successful as the [high school]
program was, by the time students
came into the SEEDS program at
the end of Grade 7, there were
already identifiable gaps academically, so, the earlier you can supplement
the education they are getting in
their public schools, the better,”
Ms. Chatterji explains.
The Young Scholars Program is
open to Newark-area students; those
students selected for the program
receive academic enrichment during
Grades 5 and 6 and enter independent schools in Grade 7. There
are currently six Young Scholars
attending Pingry.
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the pingry review
Since the program began, SEEDS
has graduated 1,154 students from
its preparatory programs. According
to SEEDS Director of Placement
and Alumni Relations Andy Hoge,
36 SEEDS alumni have graduated
from Pingry as of the 2007-08 school
year. That is the second-highest
number of SEEDS alumni at any
school. To put that number in context, SEEDS students are placed in
120 different schools in 20 states.
Thirteen SEEDS students attended
Pingry during the past year, two of
whom graduated this spring. There
are three SEEDS scholars entering
as freshmen in September.
The SEEDS program draws a racially-diverse group of students: 43 percent of the students are AfricanAmerican, 28 percent are Latino,
13 percent are Caucasian, 11 percent
Angela Ramirez ’08
Mr. Hoge says. SEEDS staff members
meet with scholars in their schools
on a regular basis as part of the
SEEDS Alumni Program.
Two current Pingry faculty members,
History Department Chair Jim
Murray and history teacher Phil
Gratwick, have been working for
the SEEDS Summer Program since
2004—Mr. Gratwick as a language
arts teacher and Dr. Murray as the
Site Dean, who runs the program.
“It’s incredibly rewarding,” Mr.
Gratwick says.
I could easily describe NJ SEEDS in
two words: life-changing. As a Middle
School student going through the program, I was challenged at a very high
level of intensity. I was given homework every day and tested often on the
advanced material being covered in
class—all the while, I was expected to
keep up with my schoolwork. Pingry
blew away all my previous educational
experiences, as I had never been in an
environment where most people actually cared about school as much as I did.
NJ SEEDS gave me hope, confidence,
and the tools that would not have
otherwise been provided to someone
coming from a not-so-privileged background. I was not only able to set the
highest goals for myself, but also was
lucky enough to achieve every single
one. I will be attending Yale University
next year on a full scholarship, but,
were it not for NJ SEEDS’s selfless
dedication, my future after high school
would look much different.
Angela Ramirez was a Pingry Class
of 2008 SEEDS Scholar. She will be
attending Yale University in the fall.
are Asian, and 4 percent are from
other backgrounds. Pingry has had
SEEDS graduates from all of these
backgrounds. “I think Pingry is
doing an incredible job of building
its socio-economic and racial diversity. That is where SEEDS and Pingry
are marching along the same path,”
Dr. Murray points out that educating and supporting the parents is
part of the process of preparing
students for success. “One of our
responsibilities is to meet with the
parents once the program has begun
and to support them as they meet
its ongoing demands. These families
are the living, walking embodiment
of the ‘American Dream.’ Whether
they are immigrants or whether they
are African-American families who
have been here for many generations, you want to do everything
you can for these kids,” he says.
Jamie McClintock, parent coordinator for SEEDS, is the mother of two
SEEDS Scholars who enrolled at
Pingry. Her son Jamil, who garnered
media attention for Pingry because
of his accomplishments in track and
field, graduated from Pingry in 2004
and from Brown University this past
June. He is currently in training to
persue his dream of track and field
at the 2012 Olympics. Her daughter
Diamond will be a junior at Pingry
this fall.
Ms. McClintock’s main concern
when her children enrolled at Pingry
was how their family was going to
fit in the community, but her fears
were soon allayed. “Pingry has been
such a welcoming and nurturing
environment for my children,” she
says. “They can be who they are and
have been encouraged to bring their
culture to the school. Pingry has
found every possible way to help
and support us. We are all grateful
and feel privileged to have such a
wonderful and mutually beneficial
relationship with Pingry.”
Diamond McClintock
With the SEEDS program, I was able
to learn math and writing skills at a
very young age [that] I had not yet
learned in my public school and,
therefore, was ahead of my math class
at school and was well-prepared for
my future Pingry classes.
SEEDS Young Scholar Diamond
McClintock will be a junior during
the 2008-2009 school year
Endowed Funds
Bring SEEDS
Scholars to Pingry
him as a potential donor to the
scholarships. Mr. Scully is a strong
supporter of education, including
Princeton University and Stanford
University, where he earned his
bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He
feels strongly about funding the
SEEDS scholarships at Pingry
because he wants to help students
of color.
“When I was a student and, to my
knowledge, as late as the time of my
first gift in the late 1990s, Pingry
was egregiously underrepresented in
students of color and lacked the
financial aid capacity of other
schools of its caliber. [These funds
make] the wonderful Pingry opportunity available to boys and girls of
color—Pingry has a responsibility to
the community to do this. I am
committed to Pingry being open to
those populations,” John says.
Mr. Hanly thought of the idea to
name the first fund after Neha, and
Mr. Cissel’s influence inspired John
to name the second fund after him.
“I’m in the finance business, and
Mr. Cissel was the advisor to our
eighth-grade math club at Pingry.
One of the donors is John H. Scully
’62, Pingry’s Letter-in-Life recipient
in 1999 and co-founder and a
managing director of SPO Partners
& Co., an investment firm in
California. His financial commitment, combined with support from
two other donors, established the
Neha Pathak ’98 Fund, and he
fully endowed the Edward Cissel
’39 Fund.
One of John’s other passions is the
Making Waves Education Program,
which he founded in 1989 with
the late Rev. Eugene Farlough, an
African-American minister in
Richmond, Calif. Making Waves
is a free eight-year after-school
tutoring and teaching program in
Richmond and San Francisco for
students from low-income families
and last September opened its first
charter school, the first of four
planned for the Bay Area. The first
executive director thought of the
title, based on the idea that what
John originally learned about
Pingry’s collaboration with NJ
SEEDS from former Headmaster
John Hanly, who reached out to
We researched the stock market and
bought a couple of stocks, which
doubled. From that point on, I was
quite certain that I’d end up in a
career of finance. Mr. Cissel set that
in motion. He was also a superb
teacher,” John says.
“Our SEEDS Scholars have
enriched the Pingry community in many ways. I am often
struck by the scholars’ sincere
appreciation for the educational
opportunities which Pingry offers.
It is quite sobering in an environment where much is taken for
granted. The diversity among the
SEEDS Scholars also forces one
to confront basic stereotypes. Our
community would be lacking in
significant ways were it not for
the presence of these talented
students.”
Dr. Diana Artis
Assistant Director of Admission
Students are enrolled in Grade
5—approximately 300 apply for
100 places, and admission is based
on siblings of children already in
the program and a lottery from inner
city schools. Hundreds of these students are later admitted to academically-challenging middle and high
schools. Ninety-nine percent of the
students are of color, and almost all
qualify for the federal free lunch
program. Making Waves has grown
from 30 to 850 students in the past
19 years.
Between SEEDS and Making
Waves, John is very oriented toward
community outreach. “Pingry had
a meaningful part in directing me
toward giving back if I should be so
fortunate. What I remember most
fondly about Pingry was the notion
that ‘to whom much is given, much
is expected in return.’ Give unto
others if you have the capacity to do
so, and share your good fortune.”
17
summer /fall 2008
Over the last decade, several donors
have made it possible for NJ SEEDS
Scholars to attend Pingry by establishing endowed funds at Pingry to
pay for the students’ tuition. Two
of the first funds established during
the last fundraising campaign were
The Neha Pathak ’98 SEEDS
Scholarship Endowment Fund,
named for the first SEEDS Scholar
who graduated from Pingry, and
The Edward W. Cissel ’39 SEEDS
Endowment Fund, named for
one of Pingry’s former assistant
headmasters.
one person does will make waves
that impact the lives of other underserved youth.
[ global/community outreach ]
Lower School Students Become
Pen Pals with South African Students
By Ann D’Innocenzo, Short Hills Library Director
Ann D’Innocenzo provides guidance to students at the Zuurbekom School in South Africa as they write
pen pal letters to Pingry students
In the spring of 2007, I was invited
to travel to South Africa with the
Global Literacy Project to distribute
donated books to schools and help
build a library. To make a lasting
connection between students at the
Pingry Lower School and students in
South Africa, I suggested a pen pal
exchange program. I hoped it would
offer reading and writing opportunities and, more importantly, promote
an expanded world perspective and
cultural awareness for our students.
When our group visited schools in
the Johannesburg area, I chose the
Zuurbekom School as the best match
for the exchange based on the similar
grades in the school.
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the pingry review
I traveled with about 200 letters that
the Pingry students in Kindergarten
through Grade 5 had written, and
pictures of all the classes. The volunteers and I distributed the letters and
photographs to the South African
children, most of whom had never
received a letter. I explained that
Pingry is in New Jersey in the United
States, and that our students had
written letters to them because
they wanted to be friends. Then,
the Zuurbekom students wrote their
responses and drew lovely pictures
for our students.
We took pictures of each South
African student so that our students
could feel more of a bond with them.
Although most of the Zuurbekom
students walked miles to school, did
not have proper winter clothing, and
had suffered personal loss to AIDS,
they had beaming smiles and good
wishes for their new friends at Pingry.
When I distributed the pen pal letters to our students, they were
amazed at the South African students’ extraordinary penmanship and
beautiful drawings, and surprised by
the Zuurbekom students’ references
to loving them although they had
never met. After reading the letters
and looking at the pictures, our students discussed the similarities and
differences between their lives and
the lives of the Zuurbekom students.
Our students decided to focus on the
similarities when they wrote their
responses. They wrote about their
families, school, friends, pets, sports,
and favorite activities. Although they
shared similar interests, the Pingry
students recognized that they are
fortunate to attend Pingry, wear
warm clothing, and live lives that
offer many choices.
“I feel special to be writing to kids
in Africa because not many schools
do this. The children in Africa are
about our age, and yet they are so
different from us in so many ways,”
says fifth-grade student Jessica Li.
In February 2008, Laura Peppetta,
literacy consultant for the Global
Literacy Project, visited the Pingry
Lower School and we presented her
with our pen pal letters to take back
with her to South Africa. The Pingry
students now wait for more pen pal
letters from their new friends from a
different hemisphere, different continent, different country, and different
world. Despite all of the geographic,
economic, and cultural differences, it
is amazing how much children have
in common. I hope that the children
from both locales will emerge from
the pen pal exchange program with a
deeper compassion for others and an
expanded world perspective.
Third-grade students wave to their new friends in South Africa. First row, left to right: Aaron Jacobson,
Simone Allison, Hadyn Anidjar, Natalie Lifson, Hallie Lau, Julia Dannenbaum, and Natalie Lucciola.
Second row, left to right: Anish Seth, Solomon Burt-Murray, Oliver Martin, Jamie Moore-Gillon,
Edward Johnson, Scotty McGraw, Kai Holston, and Stephen Hricko. Third row: Kartikeya Sharma
(photo by Melissa Van Duyne)
Pingry Encourages South African Speaker
to Share Her Story of Resisting Apartheid
Left to right: Chloe Carver (III), her sister Emma Carver (V), Caroline Setsiba, Headmaster Nat Conard,
Christina Vanech (V), and Emeka Akaezuwa, a GLP board member
After meeting Caroline Setsiba,
Speaker of the Randfontein
Municipality of South Africa, Form
V student Emma Carver believed
strongly that Mrs. Setsiba should visit
Pingry to share an episode in her life
that she had recently started discussing after 30 years of silence—the story
of her leadership of the Soweto
Student Uprising on June 16, 1976.
Thirty-thousand black students
protested the government’s decision
to use Afrikaans in their classes, a
language that was associated with
apartheid and considered oppressive.
The students, who had not told their
parents about their planned demonstration, began to march slowly and
quietly. “All you could hear was the
sound of our shoes until the police
arrived,” she says. The students retaliated against the tear gas thrown by
police by throwing stones, chanting,
Pingry students, parents, and staff met
Mrs. Setsiba in the summer of 2007
during their visit to South Africa in
conjunction with the Global Literacy
Project (GLP). “On the last day we
were in Johannesburg, she came and
told us her story,” Emma says. She,
her sister Chloe (III), brothers Sean
(6) and Reeve (6), and their parents
Anne DeLaney ’79 and Chip Carver
Jr. ’77 were among the volunteers on
the trip, along with Christina Vanech
(V) and her mother Denise.
Christina and Chloe both say they
were enlightened by Mrs. Setsiba’s
story. “Coming from a country that
values learning from first-hand
accounts of history, it was very
strange to me when Madame Speaker
said that she had never told her story
to anyone. The fact that she is able
to share her story and insight helps
people have a better understanding
of apartheid,” Chloe says.
The students felt that Mrs. Setsiba’s
appearance would be well-received,
and that it was important to hear her
messages about the leadership of
After the uprising, Mrs. Setsiba continued to fight against apartheid and
was arrested and jailed several times.
She was held in solitary confinement
in 1981 and 1984, and she had her
two-week-old baby in jail with her
in 1984. In the late 1970s and early
1980s, she was a member of the
Soweto Youth Congress and Congress
of South African Students. Her political home is the African National
Congress and, since her election as
Speaker, she has protected the rights
of opposition parties.
“Politics is my life, and my people are
my life. I think that is what I live for,
to make sure…that the objectives are
achieved from what I started in 1976.
The passion cannot die now. It’s quite
a huge responsibility,” she says.
GLP sponsored her visit to the U.S.,
including Pingry. She took the time
to meet with Psychology, Freedom,
European History, World Religions,
and U.S. History classes, giving the
Upper School students the chance to
learn about a part of history that may
have been unfamiliar. “I was happy
about the ability to link my presentation—my lecture—to the particular
class that I was attending,” she says.
Tom Keating, who teaches the
Freedom course, was pleased that
Mrs. Setsiba’s visit coincided with the
class’s consideration of race relations.
“That coincidence was invaluable
because, both in our classroom and in
the assembly, she was able to give us
a personal perspective on many of the
issues we had been discussing. Her
story was a living embodiment for
our students, and it greatly enhanced
their understanding of a vitally
important subject,” he says.
19
summer /fall 2008
Mrs. Setsiba, 15 years old at the time
of the uprising, attended Deliwonga
School where she was a member of
the 1976 Students Representative
Council. Because of her position on
the council, she became a planner for
the march. On June 16 at 4:00 a.m.,
she arrived at school in uniform.
and continuing to march. Hundreds
of students went missing, were killed,
or were arrested.
women, resisting apartheid, and forgiveness. “Caroline had to forgive a lot
of people, including the people who
shot and paralyzed her brother and the
people who shot and killed her classmates. She knew that, to represent all
the people of South Africa, she had to
forgive and move forward,” Anne says.
[ global/community outreach ]
AFS Students Visit Pingry from Around the World
Since 1965, Pingry has been involved
with AFS—American Field Service
—an international, voluntary, nonprofit organization that provides
intercultural learning opportunities.
The AFS international program
started in 1945 as an extension of the
AFS ambulance corps that served in
France during World War I and in
France, North Africa, the Middle
East, and Italy during World War II.
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the pingry review
According to AFS Advisor and foreign language faculty member Kelly
Jordan, who has overseen Pingry’s
participation for almost 15 years,
AFS’s mission is to change people’s
opinions of the world, one person at
a time. When students travel abroad
with the AFS program, they can stay
for the summer, semester, entire
school year, or gap year—between
high school graduation and starting
college.
“The way that AFS is different than
other organizations that have programs abroad, and what is very
important, is no matter what you
do—whether you do a language or
community service program—you
live with a family. That is the best
way to learn a language and a culture, because there’s never any way
to understand everything about a
language if you don’t know about
the culture of the country,” Ms.
Jordan says.
A crucial part of each year’s process
is to find a Pingry family to host a
student, and Ms. Jordan tries to
ensure that Pingry parents are aware
of AFS and the wonderful opportunity it provides. She sends letters to
Upper School families about the program, arranges for previous hosts to
talk about their experiences during
Parents’ Day, and submits AFS news
to the PSPA Spotlight.
Once a potential host family is identified, Ms. Jordan and two AFS
representatives from New Jersey
interview the whole family for about
two hours and discuss the pros and
cons of hosting. “They’re taking on
a teenager for a whole year, which
is a huge commitment and responsibility,” Ms. Jordan says.
One of the representatives is Sue
Fershing, an area team coordinator,
and the other is Lisa Iervolino, a
hosting coordinator for eight years
who has personally hosted 10 students from 9 countries. In addition
to learning why the family wants
to host a child, Ms. Jordan, Ms.
Iervolino, and Ms. Fershing ask about
issues such as the family’s behavior
patterns, methods of communicating,
and interests. “We find that it makes
a better hosting experience when
they have something in common,”
Ms. Iervolino says.
Students who want to visit the
United States apply to AFS a year
in advance, and Ms. Jordan works
with the Pingry family to choose a
student. “It has to be a student who
can attend Pingry for a year and take
advantage of the incredible opportunity that we have given them, and
it has to be a student who fits into
the family. I look at the kid’s grades,
interests, and extra-curricular activities,” Ms. Jordan says.
AFS emphasizes that its goal is to
be recognized for educational youth
exchanges and contributing to intercultural learning and global education—thus creating global citizens.
Part of its mission statement reads,
“AFS activities are based on our core
values of dignity, respect for differences, harmony, sensitivity, and tolerance.” Because these goals fit so
closely with Pingry’s mission statement of placing “the highest value
on honor and respect for others,”
Ms. Jordan feels that the school’s
involvement with AFS is a natural
fit. “There is no way that we cannot
embrace what they do,” she says.
Pingry AFS Student for 2007-08 Hailed from Austria
Sixteen-year-old Matthias Tinzl, from
Innsbruck, Austria, spent the 2007-08
school year at Pingry as a participant in
the AFS program. He traveled to the
United States in August 2007 and spent
the month training with Pingry’s soccer
team and adjusting to the culture.
Matthias learned about AFS from other
students in Austria who had participated
in an exchange year and shared their
experiences. “I thought it [would be] quite
an interesting experience and it’s a good
opportunity to learn English and get to
know another culture,” he says.
In Austria, he attends Adolf-Pichler-Platz
High School and lives with his parents
and nine-year-old brother. While he was
in the U.S. from August to this past June,
he lived with Form I parents Bill and
Leslie Pye and their son Geordie.
“It was a perfect match,” says foreign language faculty member and AFS Advisor
Kelly Jordan about Matthias living with
the Pye family. “Matthias was a big brother to Geordie. Matthias is young, but he’s
pretty mature for his age, and he’s pretty
bright. He’s also the kind of kid who is
grateful for everything. He has wonderful
values. Family is very important to him.”
Matthias’s preparation involved informational meetings about the application
process, expectations, making friends,
and cultural differences. “My father and
my mom were always supporting me with
[AFS]. They thought it was a good thing
to do. We exchanged emails with the Pyes
and [the families] got to know each other
better,” he says. The meetings continued
every three months with AFS student
coordinators in New Jersey.
By the time he spoke with The Pingry
Review, Matthias had spent seven months
as a Pingry Form IV student, and he was
able to compare Pingry with his home
school. “In Austria, we don’t spend that
much time at school, we usually don’t eat
lunch at school, we don’t have all those
assemblies, and we don’t do sports at
school—if you want to do a sport, you
go to a club. I think Pingry is more of a
community than my school. As a result
of that, in Austria, we have more friends
outside of school,” he says.
Geordie loved having a brother and
asked several times, ‘What will we
do when he leaves?’ He loved having
someone else his age in the house,”
Ms. Pye says.
Ms. Jordan feels that Matthias’s visit
was among the most satisfying she
has overseen because the time abroad
was mutually beneficial and rewarding
for both the student and family.
After seven months, his original concerns
were no longer bothering him. “I always
thought that it might be hard to speak in
English all the time, but that fear stopped
after the first couple of weeks. I also
thought that making friends would be
pretty hard since everyone has their own
group of people. But Pingry is wonderful
and everyone was really welcoming and
friendly,” Matthias says.
The Pyes enjoyed the experience equally.
“Matthias’s command of English is such
that we didn’t really have any communication problems. Matthias assimilated very well. Kelly [Jordan] told me
that by October it was like he had
always been at Pingry. We feel
much the same way—like he’d
always been part of the family.
21
summer /fall 2008
[ global/community outreach ]
French Students Visit France
Upper School students in front of the Château du Clos Lucé (Loire Valley), the last residence of Leonardo da Vinci when he was the guest of the King of France
To fully immerse foreign language
students in other cultures, teachers
have taken students to Europe in
recent years for trips that last about
two weeks. For example, in the
spring of 2006, German students
traveled to Berlin, Salzburg, Vienna,
and Munich.
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the pingry review
During March break in 2008, Kelly
Jordan, Jane Roxbury, and Gail
Castaldo took 28 Upper School students, all of whom study French, to
France. The trip, which takes place
every other year, took them to the
Loire Valley, Brittany—for a stay
with their host families in SaintMalo—Normandy, and Paris, where
they spent four days. A travel agency
found host families, with whom the
students enjoyed spending time.
“This is a cultural trip. It’s not just
sight-seeing. We want them to
speak French, to experience the
culture, and to live with a family,”
Ms. Jordan says.
Reflecting on the trip, freshman
Ashley Feng considers it a tremendous
life experience. “It was the best trip
of my life because I was able to
speak French [and] I enjoyed visiting
cathedrals, abbeys, and monuments
because we don’t have such old buildings in the United States. I will
always remember the day when I
walked in the rain on the Normandy
beaches and thought about D-Day. It
was sad but truly beautiful,” she says.
Tori Meyer, also a freshman, realized
a long-standing dream. “My favorite
places were the Sainte-Chapelle and
l’Orangerie. It was wonderful to see
all the details of that magnificent
gothic cathedral. L’Orangerie is my
favorite museum, and I’ve been
dreaming about seeing it for a long
time. Sitting in these rooms, completely surrounded by massive paintings of Monet’s Water Lilies, is an
experience I will never forget.”
For sophomore Nancy Eckenthal, the
highlight was time spent with her
host family. “I had the opportunity
to share family activities and to
feel completely relaxed with them.
The stereotypes that we have about
the French are not true. The French
are just like Americans. They’re so
welcoming and helpful. They don’t
judge you. By the fourth day, we had
so much fun with the family that we
didn’t want to leave.”
International Clubs
Reach Out to
South Africa, Central
America, and Beyond
Student clubs offer students the
opportunity to explore a passion
outside the realm of what is offered
by Pingry’s curriculum and allow
students to supplement what is
taught in the classroom. Three
of the 50 student-run clubs have
an international focus: Girls Learn
International, Global Literacy
Project Club, and International
Relations Club.
Form IV co-presidents Louisa Lee,
Kristin Scillia, and Carina Chan are
passionate about their club, Girls
Learn International (GLI), as is their
club advisor Judy Lebowitz—who has
corresponded and worked with GLI
for many years. With over 60 chapters in 10 states and with partner
classrooms in 15 countries, GLI has
dual goals: to educate the current
generation about cultural diversity
and human rights awareness and to
promote a movement toward positive
social change. Pingry’s partner school
is the Nunkapir School in Kenya.
“We raised over $500 through bake
sales and ended the year having
raised $1,000 through a final fundraising project,” Louisa says. Members
of the club have asked friends and
family to sponsor their achievements.
For example, Form IV student
Cassidy Reich is sponsored for each
goal and assist she makes in lacrosse.
Form V students Emma Carver and
Christina Vanech, Form I student
Chloe Carver, and their families, as
well as Pingry student volunteers,
Jackie Reef (V), right, with members of the International Relations Club. Money collected at the
bake sale and matched by an anonymous donor
was sent to the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in
Central America
faculty, and staff, helped build a
library in South Africa during the
summer of 2007 (“Sharing the
Magic,” Winter 2008 The Pingry
Review). Through the generosity of
Pingry families and surrounding communities, over 57,000 books were
collected from the Short Hills and
Martinsville Campuses, shipped, and
shelved in the new library. An outgrowth of the planning for this trip
was the formation of the Global
Literacy Project Club. Through that
club, Emma, Christina, and Chloe
continue their efforts to help increase
global literacy with the help of club
advisor Pat Lionetti. Their mission
is to spread awareness about the lack
of educational resources in many
places, including South Africa, and
to brainstorm about ways to help
solve these problems.
When she was a sophomore, Form V
student Jackie Reef founded the
International Relations Club. The
club’s mission is to study different
countries and cultures with particular
emphasis on countries that are
Jackie also does volunteer work for
the Overbrook Foundation, which
has a dual mission of advancing
human rights and protecting the
environment. The Foundation’s
projects are focused both in the
United States and internationally.
International projects have emphasized South Africa and Latin America.
Jackie’s work includes helping the
Foundation support human rights
organizations in their effort to eliminate discrimination, particularly
where activists are at risk. These
clubs augment what students learn
in the classroom, supplement their
involvement in community service,
and support the importance of global
outreach in an ever-expanding
global community.
World History
Students Make
Intercultural
Connection
For the past five years, Pingry freshmen in Philip Gratwick’s world history class have traveled to a place
where they can talk to Egyptians,
Iraqis, and Syrians. This intercultural
exchange requires neither passport
nor plane ticket, but a 40-minute
bus ride to Monmouth Junction, N.J.
There, as part of their study of Islam
23
summer /fall 2008
Pingry club members sent Nunkapir
students a camera two years ago and
have enjoyed receiving letters as well
as pictures of the Nunkapir girls
spending time in class. “It really puts
a personality and face to the girls we
are writing to,” adds Louisa. Group
members are finishing a scrapbook
filled with pictures and descriptions
of everyday life in America—
including pictures of life at Pingry,
sports, home, and friends, plus recipes. Louisa continues: “All the
money we raise goes straight to the
school to help with specified projects.
They just finished building a new
building thanks to our previous
donations, and now we are working
toward furnishing the building with
beds because the boarding school is
growing as girls seize their opportunity for education.” Now that they
have learned the ropes of the organization, Louisa, Kristin, and Carina
have big plans and high hopes for
next year.
known to have global human rights
and diversity abuses. The club also
raises money to support global
human rights projects with the hope
of improving the lives of disadvantaged people. With the help of
advisor Gerardo Vazquez, the
International Relations Club raised
money last year through bake sales.
Proceeds from the most recent bake
sale were donated to the Foundation
for Self-Sufficiency in Central
America, which works in partnership
with low-income communities to
help them achieve economic selfsufficiency, peace, social justice,
and environmental sustainability.
[ global/community outreach ]
Mr. Gratwick plans to continue
the visits to the mosque and school
each year, since they make a lasting
impression on his students. “The kids
come back to me years later and say
that’s one of the most memorable
parts of the course,” he says.
Repairing a Home
in New Orleans to
Help the Victims of
Hurricane Katrina
By Dave Allan, former Director of College
Guidance
The mosque at the Islamic Society of Central Jersey Center
24
the pingry review
and Muslim culture, the students
visit a mosque and Muslim school at
the Islamic Society of Central Jersey
(ISCJ) Center, which serves mainly
Middle Eastern and South Asian
immigrants from Pakistan, Egypt,
Syria, Iraq, and other countries. The
visits to the mosque and school are
just one way Pingry strives to give
its students a global perspective.
warm and gracious, and the students
later have a chance to hear his
sermon in English during the afternoon prayer session.
Former faculty member Dr. David
Korfhage and Mr. Gratwick began
the trips in 2004; Dr. Korfhage made
the trip again in the 2006-2007
school year. “The trip is designed to
give students a unique look at a culture that, while dominant in the
Middle East, North Africa, and
South Asia, is also growing in importance here,” Mr. Gratwick explains.
“It is my hope that our yearly trip to
the ISCJ Mosque does something to
diminish the misconceptions that
some students have about Islam,
and Muslim culture, in general.”
During the visit, Pingry students also
have a chance to talk with the students from the Noor-Ul-Iman School,
which is adjacent to the mosque.
This was the favorite part of the
experience for freshman Robert
Bunting, who visited the school
during the 2007-2008 school year.
“I realized that they are just normal
kids like me,” he says.
Before entering the mosque, female
students must put on a head scarf
and all students must take off their
shoes. Once inside the mosque, the
students meet with an imam from
Egypt who provides a tour. Mr.
Gratwick describes the imam as
Freshman Jared Cohen, who visited
the mosque during the 2007-2008
school year, enjoyed the overall
experience. “I think that the trip
was a great firsthand account of the
religion,” he says.
Mr. Gratwick says that from their
discussions with the Muslim students,
“one of the things that comes
through . . . is that it’s often a lot
more challenging to be a Muslim
girl in America than a Muslim boy.”
The boys can blend in more easily,
he explains, while the girls’ head
scarves and clothing mark them as
different—and as targets for antiMuslim comments from passersby
on the street.
My wife Connie and I, like most
Americans, were saddened by the
horrors visited upon the Gulf Coast
that resulted from Hurricane Katrina,
but did not have any idea how to
help. After we learned about the
Elderhostel New Orleans Service
Program from an Elderhostel brochure, we decided to participate in
the program and visited New Orleans
..........................................
In the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina, Pingry hosted New
Orleans resident Gem Batuman
as an eighth-grade student from
September to December 2005.
Gem’s family is familiar with Pingry
because his sister Elif Batuman
graduated from Pingry in 1995.
“His classmates adored him and
gave him a standing ovation when
we said farewell in a December
assembly,” says Middle School
Dean of Students
Kooheli Chatterji ’93.
..........................................
for a week in February 2008 to repair
houses damaged by the hurricane
and its aftermath. We were housed
in a hotel, about a block from the
Superdome, with 300 Louisiana
National Guardsmen—some of
whom had been there for nearly
locals and their deeply-felt gratitude
made our endeavor seem truly worthwhile and beneficial. Helping rebuild
a home damaged by Katrina was the
most meaningful community service
experience in which my wife and I
have ever participated. The devastated homes—and devastated lives—
we witnessed have encouraged us to
do even more.
Celebrating Iran
Dave and Connie Allan in front of the New Orleans house they helped to repair
three years. They were brought in
shortly after the storm when most
of the city’s police force abandoned
their posts to protect their own
families and homes, leaving the
city largely unprotected.
Our knowledge of today’s New
Orleans came from our experiences
in the city plus conversations we had
with locals; everybody had hurricane
stories that they were anxious to tell
while vociferously offering their
thanks to those of us who were there
to help them rebuild. While touring
the city, we saw areas that were practically untouched by the storm, but
also came across devastating damage
in lowland areas.
The week we spent in New Orleans
was not only incredibly educational,
but also very satisfying. We came
away with the feeling that we had
done something to make someone
else’s life better and help those in
need. Our conversations with the
“I was there as an Iranian/American
citizen...who wanted to talk about
her place of birth to people that
have heard of Iran through [the
media]. This was a chance for me
to tell non-Iranian[s] what my
country is all about. I talked to
people about traditions, families,
food, schools, and other social
issues,” Ms. Watts says.
25
summer /fall 2008
We worked on a house in a heavilydamaged area called Hollygrove, in
one of the lowlands. The house
belonged to a single mother living
with her young daughter. When we
completed our work, the woman’s
mother would move in as well, as the
mother’s brick home next door was
so badly damaged that it needed to
be torn down. By the time we
arrived, previous crews had replaced
the roof and re-established the
plumbing and electricity. Our crew
of about two dozen people did painting work and replaced the indoor
flooring in just five days. Connie and
two other women quickly became
experts in laying flooring and painting indoors, while I was largely
involved with outdoor painting and
preparing ceiling and floor moldings
for installation.
This past January, Kindergarten
teacher Homa Watts participated in
“Exploring Iran: An Afternoon of
Iranian and Persian Culture” at the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation
of Princeton. The Coalition for
Peace Action sponsored the event
in conjunction with the local
Iranian community. Those who
attended learned about Iranian
music, literature, artwork, arts
and crafts, and food.
Kindergarten faculty member Homa Watts displays books about Iran (Courtesy of Andrea Warriner)
[ School News ]
Class of 2008 Graduates in 147th Commencement Ceremony
By Darina Shtrakhman ’08
On June 8, 2008, the 123
members of the Class of
2008 received their diplomas in a graduation ceremony at the Martinsville
Campus. The commencement exercise, a culmination of almost two weeks’
worth of senior activities,
was attended by Pingry
faculty members, trustees, and the graduates’
families.
26
the pingry review
Miller Bugliari ’52 gave
the invocation, encouraging the soon-to-be graduates to think not only
of themselves, but also
of others as they step
out into the world.
Following the address by Class
President Taylor Sankovich ’08,
Student Body President Jessica
Westerman ’08 gave a speech in
which she encouraged her classmates
to “become who you really are,”
in the words of E.E. Cummings.
Class President Taylor Sankovich ’08, left, and Valedictorian Evan Rosenman ’08 address their classmates
Valedictorian Evan Rosenman ’08
gave the final student speech. He
remarked on how the building, faculty, and students shape each person’s
Pingry experience, and he encouraged his classmates to network, stay
in touch, and change the world.
Stressing the tight-knit quality that is
a hallmark of the Class of 2008, he
first quoted Jack Johnson, saying, “It’s
always better when we’re together.”
Realizing that as valedictorian he is
by definition obligated to “say goodbye,” he quoted Thoreau: “Nothing
makes the earth seem so spacious as
to have friends at a distance; they
make the latitudes and longitudes.”
Pingry alumnus. In his acceptance
speech, he encouraged the graduates
to pursue what they love and to have
fun at their respective jobs.
Bruce Jacobsen ’78 was presented
with the Letter-in-Life Award, the
highest award bestowed upon a
Copies of Commencement
speaches are available online at
www.pingry.org.
Outgoing Chair of the Board of
Trustees Vicki Brooks addressed the
class and emphasized that a Pingry
education will help the graduates
make correct decisions in the
coming years.
After students were presented with
their diplomas, Headmaster Nat
Conard gave some brief departing
remarks, and the students and
faculty processed out to the sounds
of Henry Purcell’s “Trumpet Tune.”
Retiring faculty member Fred Fayen and outgoing Chair of the Board of Trustees Vicki Brooks each
received The Cyril and Beatrice Baldwin Pingry Family Citizen of the Year Award. It is presented to members of the Pingry family who, in rendering meritorious service to the community, have demonstrated
those qualities of responsible citizenship that Pingry aspires to instill in all of those associated with the
school. Mr. Fayen was honored for his contributions to Pingry since 1963, and Ms. Brooks was recognized
for her dedication to Pingry as a parent of two alumni, a Trustee from 1994-2008, and Chair of the Board
of Trustees since 2002
Brian O’Toole ’08, top, received the Magistri
Laudandi Award for being the student who cares
the most about helping others succeed, and
Jessica Westerman ’08 received The Class of
1902 Emblem Award for having the most
commitment to the school
27
Left to right: faculty member Dr. Susan Dineen, Tyler Parsels ’08, Peter Corrigan ’08, Cary Corrigan ’08,
faculty member Madeline Landau, Kristin Molinari ’08, and Gordon Peeler ’08
Zach Carr ’08, Danika Paulo ’08, Grant Schonberg
’08, Headmaster Nat Conard, and Ali Apruzzese ’08
Lauren Kronthal ’08, her mother Leah, her father
Jeff, and her grandmother Antoinette Scheubel
Jordan Shelby ’08 receives her diploma from
Headmaster Nat Conard
summer /fall 2008
Tucker Bourne ’08 shakes hands with faculty
member Jeff Jenkins
[ School News ]
Upon His Retirement, a Tribute to
Frederick George Herman Fayen II
By English faculty member Ted Li
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Prologue” to the classic The Canterbury Tales,
there is a magnificently concise description of the chivalric ideals of
“Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie” 1 embodied by the modestly dressed knight whose loyalty, devotion, and wisdom gained him
“sovereyn prys” from both friend and foe. This is the way I envision
Fred Fayen, with whom I have worked for the past 35 years.
As a teacher of myriad courses, mostly history courses in both the
Upper and Middle Schools, Fred has had an unwavering dedication to
the exploration of the events of human history, and the means by
which various peoples have perceived and communicated their experiences. A consummate teacher, Fred is always prepared, whether it is for
a discussion of Quotation from the Chairman Mao in a Far East and
Soviet history course, or Lord of the Flies in a Middle School class. One
story, related by both Fred and former Assistant Headmaster Allen
Ingelsby, illustrates Fred’s equanimity.
28
For ten years I never left my books;
I went up . . . and won unmerited praise.
My high place I do not much prize;
The joy of my parents will first make me proud.
Fellow students, six or seven men,
See me off as I leave the City gate.
My covered coach is ready to drive away;
Flutes and strings blend their parting tune.
Hopes achieved dull the pains of parting;
Fumes of wine shorten the long road . . .
Shod with wings is the horse of him who rides
On a Spring day the road that leads to home.
the pingry review
Po Chü-i
Masterpieces of the Orient
W.W. Norton & Company 1977
1
Geoffrey Chaucer, “General Prologue,” The
Canterbury Tales in The Oxford Anthology of English
Literature, vol. I (Oxford University Press, New
York, 1973), pp. 133-34. “Trouthe here is integrity;
freedom is liberality, material and spiritual, curteisie
is well-bred behavior” (ibid., pp. 133).
In Fred’s initial year at Pingry, during an observed class whose topic
was ancient divination and prophecy, a student asked what would happen if a sacrificial animal or bird did not contain the entrails needed
for a divination. Without a moment’s notice, Fred responded to the
question, impressing both the student and the class observer. Another
indication of Fred’s dedication to his craft is his habit of requiring revisions of submitted essays. In Fred’s mind, there are always improvements which can be made to a written piece, no matter how good it
initially is. For Fred, his students’ pursuit of excellence has always been
the goal, and he has encouraged it, demanded it, and pursued it with
good humor and compassion.
Whatever role Fred assumed during his Pingry career, whether it was
Director of Guidance, classroom teacher, or coach, his personal style
has been a touchstone for those around him. As some of the departed
faculty members tell the story of Fred’s initial years at Pingry, he was
often mistaken for a senior because of his youthful demeanor; but very
quickly, his quiet dignity, unstinting contributions to the academic and
extracurricular life of Pingry, and insistence upon honorable, ethical
behavior made him a model for both students and faculty. On the playing field, in the classroom, and behind an administrative desk, Fred is
unfailingly calm and dignified: he has a “centered-ness” which is
informed by a humanistic ethical system. In whatever he does, there is
the sense that Fred respects, values, and empathizes with those around
him: each student, each parent, each coach, is someone from whom he
can learn, someone whom he can support, and someone whose life is
valuable.
While his hair has more grey in it, and his movements are slowed by
arthritis, Fred’s spirit has not been diminished. An indomitable spirit,
he is the same Fred who introduced me 35 years ago to his daughter
Blake on the patio of his Fanwood home; he is the same Fred who
enjoys the camaraderie that accompanies good food and good conversation; Fred is one of the iconic figures who has, quietly, had a major
influence in shaping The Pingry School into what it is today.
History Teacher
and College
Counselor Fred
Fayen Retires
Frederick G. H. Fayen II has retired
after 45 years as a member of the
Pingry faculty. From the perspective
of the thousands of students and
hundreds of faculty members who
have benefited from his knowledge,
mentoring, and camaraderie over the
years, Mr. Fayen is well-known for his
standards of excellence, quiet dignity,
calm demeanor, and unceasing eagerness to learn from those around him.
“I’ve enjoyed the students, and I’ve
enjoyed my colleagues,” he says.
He graduated from Phillips Exeter
Academy in 1957, earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in
1961, and earned his master’s degree
from New York University in 1967.
After teaching in California for two
years, he wrote a letter of interest to
Pingry, which generated an interview
with former Headmaster Charles
Atwater during Spring Break of 1963.
Mr. Fayen’s Pingry career began that
fall, and students have been enriched
by his teaching, college counseling,
coaching, and advising, among other
roles. “He lives the mission statement
of Pingry and has every day of his
Pingry tenure,” says Barbara Edwards,
registrar.
Dr. Robert Macrae ’82, who worked
at Pingry for 17 years as a teacher,
coach, and administrator, played on
the Middle School soccer team for
two years. Mr. Fayen was his coach,
and he later was Dr. Macrae’s assistant Varsity Girls Soccer coach in
the 1990s—a relationship that was
part of the familial culture that has
characterized Pingry. Dr. Macrae says
it has been a privilege to know Mr.
Fayen for so many years. About five
years ago, when he was Head of the
Middle School, Dr. Macrae and Jim
Murray, chair of the history department, reviewed Mr. Fayen’s seventhgrade classes.
They wrote, “We are always struck
by the curious combination of
patience and intensity that characterizes his teaching. Fred’s approach
to teaching is undeniably cerebral—
he appeals to his students’ intellectual curiosity, not their emotions, and
he steadfastly refuses to ‘dumb down’
the lesson to make it more accessible
and appealing. This can be intimidating for the students, yet, at the
same time, he is extraordinarily
patient and supportive.”
The intercultural connection was an
important part of Mr. Fayen’s
approach, according to Isaac Davis
’07. “What he taught us wasn’t just
‘social studies,’ but the ability to read
and understand different cultures. He
expected us, even as seventh-graders,
to set aside our own values in order
to better understand those of others,
and to make connections where connections seemed unlikely,” he says.
One philosophy that dominated Mr.
Fayen’s teaching style is that learning
is not only about knowledge, but also
about making that knowledge serve a
higher purpose. “Learning information and learning to think are, to put
it simply, vastly different,” Mr. Fayen
says. “Patience and positive reinforcement are strong motivational tools,
and I believe that pushing students
to achieve beyond their comfort
zones is a good thing.” He wanted
the classroom to provide a supportive
atmosphere where students could
take intellectual risks.
Mr. Fayen was asked to be a college
counselor in 1968 and spent 40 years
mentoring students during the search
process, writing their profiles, and
observing admissions trends and
changes. For these reasons, Tim Lear
’92, Pingry’s Director of College
Counseling, considered working with
Mr. Fayen a learning experience and
valued his insights into the colleges’
decisions about students. He also
29
summer /fall 2008
At first, Mr. Fayen taught Form I history and Form I and II English. Later,
he focused on teaching Form I and II
history, as well as U.S. History for
sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
Because Pingry did not have a course
in non-Western histories, he created
a unit to focus on the modern history
of China, Japan, and the Soviet
Union—the course became known
as “Modern Asian and Soviet
History” (“MASH”).
Fred and Connie Fayen in front of the plaque for the The Cyril and Beatrice Baldwin Pingry Family
Citizen of the Year Award. Connie has worked as an admission associate at the Short Hills Campus for
20 years. They are joined by their daughter Julie ’02 (far left), their daughter Blake Hargrave ’90, and
Blake’s son Sean Hargrave
[ School News ]
He was recognized several times
during the 2007-2008 academic year
for his dedication to the school. In
April, to recognize his commitment
to students despite the pain from
rheumatoid arthritis, he received the
2008 Henry G. Stifel III Award,
which is presented to the person who
best exemplifies those characteristics
exhibited by Henry G. Stifel III in
the aftermath of his accident and
spinal cord injury: courage, endurance, optimism, compassion, and
spirit. In May, faculty and staff honored him at a school reception, and,
at Graduation in June, he was presented with The Cyril and Beatrice
Baldwin Pingry Family Citizen of
the Year Award.
Fred Fayen and Paul Scrudato ’78 during Reunion Weekend. Paul is among those who honored
Mr. Fayen during the 2007-2008 academic year
30
points out that Mr. Fayen always
seeks his colleagues’ opinions.
and coaching Middle School soccer
for 15 years.
“The first month I was here, Fred
was asking me to review some of his
counselor letters—after 40 years of
writing these letters, I think he
knows what to do, yet he was still
looking for constructive feedback.
That’s amazing to me,” Tim says.
Coaching Middle School soccer
coincided with his years as Director
of Guidance, from 1973 to 1988,
because the coaching schedule gave
him time for parental conferences.
According to Dave Allan, former
Director of College Guidance, Mr.
Fayen initiated an innovative and
successful Guidance program.
the pingry review
Annette Tomaino, Director of
Guidance from 1988 to 2001, was
part of the college counseling team
with Mr. Fayen, Dave Allan, and
Jack Dufford. “Fred enjoyed the ‘after
application’ process, too, whether by
visiting individual colleges or having
phone conferences with admission
officers to highlight each and every
applicant from Pingry,” she says.
Mr. Fayen was an assistant to Coach
Richard Weiler for Middle School
lacrosse, and he coached swimming
and soccer—including serving as
Head Coach of the Junior Varsity
Swimming team for 10 years, coaching ninth-grade soccer for 10 years,
“[It involved] parents and faculty to a
degree that was previously non-existent. Every classroom teacher and
administrator had an assigned number of student advisees. The coordination and cooperation of the
Guidance staff was a product of
Fred’s leadership, which generated
communication within the school
and with parents,” Mr. Allan says.
Mr. Fayen also was secretary of the
Cum Laude Society from 2001 until
April 2008, maintaining membership
records and presenting information
at elections.
During the Magistri ceremony
at Reunion Weekend in May, Paul
Scrudato ’78, who had Mr. Fayen as
an advisor and college counselor,
praised him for his compassion and
professionalism. Paul said that Mr.
Fayen treated all of the students with
the same devotion, “regardless of the
objective academic metrics” that they
presented, and that Mr. Fayen has
been a part of the “institutional culture and memory of Pingry since the
school was in Hillside.”
“You are a very lucky man,” Paul told
him. “There are a lot of students, like
me, who will look back at their time
at Pingry, and their relationship with
you will be a part of their warmest
and best memories.”
Fund Established
in Honor of Fred
Fayen
This spring, a new endowment fund
was established by Pingry parent Dr.
John Young in honor of Mr. Fayen’s
45-year career at Pingry—a tenure
that was characterized by passion,
enthusiasm, integrity, and excellence.
When Dr. Young heard of Mr. Fayen’s
plan to retire, he decided to make a
donation to the school in honor of
Mr. Fayen’s service to Pingry. When
Mr. Fayen, who is also father of Blake
’90 and Juliana ’02, was asked how he
would like to direct the funds, he
expressed his desire to help Pingry
employees with the cost of tuition.
“The well-being of faculty and staff
children is a major benefit to the
institution,” Mr. Fayen says. He
believes that the goal of offering the
most generous financial aid possible
builds loyalty with the faculty and
staff by encouraging them to send
their children to Pingry. Stability of
the faculty and staff also means that
the school spends less time and
money on recruiting and training
new employees.
The current policy states that any
full-time faculty member who was
employed at Pingry on or before
September 1, 1989, receives 100 percent tuition remission. In 1989, the
Board of Trustees voted to offer
25 percent tuition remission and additional financial aid for all faculty and
staff members who were employed
after September 1, 1989. Thus, the
Fred Fayen Fund will be a catalyst to
increase the financial aid offered
for Pingry faculty and staff whose
children attend Pingry.
According to Dr. Young, Mr. Fayen’s
teaching style is rigorous, demanding,
and meticulous. When asked to
describe Mr. Fayen as a college counselor, Dr. Young emphasizes that he
is knowledgeable about what to do
and what not to do during the application process; he is comprehensive,
concise, and efficient; he offers practical tips; and he has deep connections
with some of the best schools, including Harvard, his alma mater.
Another quality that stands out in
Dr. Young’s mind is Mr. Fayen’s commitment to helping his students with
their writing skills, and that he takes
the time to make the necessary corrections regardless of the fact that
he is grading history papers. “In my
mind, he is both a dedicated history
teacher and an excellent English
teacher,” Dr. Young says.
The new fund went through early
planning stages of how it would best
recognize Mr. Fayen, and Dr. Young
is happy to embrace Mr. Fayen’s goal
to help his Pingry colleagues. “From
every single angle you look at it, [this
financial aid] is needed at Pingry,
and I’ll do whatever I can to help,
but it is clear that it will require the
entire Pingry community to embrace
this initiative in order for it to work
effectively. I’m sure that, as parents,
all of us wish to see a stable and
motivated faculty whose children
are just as much a part of the school
community as the faculty is,” Dr.
Young says.
If you would like more information
about The Frederick G. H. Fayen II
Scholarship Fund, please contact
Melanie Hoffmann, Director of
Development, at (908) 647-7058
or mhoffmann@pingry.org.
Fred Fayen and
Nick Rescoe
Receive Henry G.
Stifel III Award
The 21st annual Stifel Award, named
for Henry Stifel ’83, was presented in
April 2008 to retiring faculty member Fred Fayen and Form VI student
Nick Rescoe.
Henry, a financial advisor at Morgan
Stanley in New York, was paralyzed
in an automobile accident during his
junior year at Pingry, and part of the
award description reads: “It shall be
awarded to the person who best
exemplifies those characteristics
exhibited by Henry G. Stifel III in
the aftermath of his accident and
spinal injury: courage, endurance,
optimism, compassion, and spirit.”
“This is always a very special day for
me, to return to this community and
participate in recognizing an individual who, many times, in a quiet way,
serves as a role model for us all,”
Henry said. He also thanked Mr.
Fayen for being his teacher, advisor,
coach, and mentor.
School Counselor and AP Psychology
teacher Mike Richardson spoke
31
summer /fall 2008
Dr. Young is very familiar with Mr.
Fayen’s roles as teacher and college
counselor because of his children’s
education. Lena ’06 and David ’08
had Mr. Fayen as their college counselor, and Lena and Andrew, who
will be a sophomore at Pingry in
September, had Mr. Fayen for seventh-grade history.
First row: Nick Rescoe’s mother Regina and Henry Stifel ’83. Second row, left to right: Leslie Wolfson,
Nick Rescoe, Nick’s father Robert, Headmaster Nat Conard, Fred and Connie Fayen, their daughter
Blake Hargrave ’90, and faculty members Pat Lionetti and Mike Richardson
[ School News ]
about Mr. Fayen, describing his quiet
dignity, and then encouraged students to emulate him as a role model:
“Mr. Fayen has taught many different
courses and many different grades,
but always with a love for his students and an equally important
love for his subject.” He praised Mr.
Fayen’s role as a college counselor
because of his knowledge about
colleges and instinct for where a
student would thrive.
Although Mr. Fayen in recent years
has been coping with rheumatoid
arthritis, he found ways to maintain
the same level of dedication to his
students. He used computer voice
technology to write senior profiles
and, though it was painful for him
to write, he still corrected history
papers. “He adheres to the same
teaching standards that have always
defined his career here at Pingry.
He believes that students need to
write—and write a lot—and that
those papers need to be corrected
diligently so that students can
improve,” Mr. Richardson said.
32
the pingry review
Economics teacher Leslie Wolfson
spoke on behalf of Nick Rescoe,
who is the primary care giver for his
mother who has multiple sclerosis.
She has been bed and wheelchairridden since he was in Grade 5.
“Nick is one of the most incredible
young men I have ever met. None
of us can imagine what he has given
to his mom and his family through
the years. I have never heard Nick
complain. Instead, I always hear gratitude. I have never heard Nick say
it’s too much to handle. Instead, he
takes it all in stride and continues
to do more,” she said.
The audience acknowledged Mr.
Fayen and Nick with standing ovations. Members of the faculty have
said that the Stifel Award presentation is their favorite assembly each
year. It is a day to single out a special
person who might otherwise not be
recognized.
Novelist Lisa See Speaks at John Hanly
Lecture on Ethics
Novelist Lisa See signs a copy of Peony in Love for senior Rebecca Behrman
Best-selling novelist Lisa See delivered this year’s John Hanly Lecture
on Ethics and Morality. The John
Hanly Lecture Series on Ethics and
Morality was established in 1999
in honor of former Headmaster
John Hanly, who consistently emphasized the importance of character
education.
This year’s guest lecturer Lisa See is
the author of the bestselling and critically-acclaimed novel Snow Flower
and the Secret Fan. Lisa used her
writing on Chinese and ChineseAmerican culture as a springboard
for examining the moral question of
what one should do when societal
norms conflict with one’s individual
wishes.
Lisa’s lecture on March 4, 2008, supplemented faculty and administrators’
study of Chinese culture prior to
their trip to China during spring
break. Set in 19th-century China,
the novel tells the story of a friendship between two women who
exchange messages in a language
known only by women.
After the lecture, Lisa visited classes
and met with students and faculty
during lunch, where the discussion
turned to U.S.-China relations.
“Lisa . . . talked about the need for
understanding eastern cultures and
not assuming that western rites and
rituals are the only moral imperatives
for our global society,” said Pingry
Director of Studies Lydia Geacintov,
who arranged Lisa’s visit. Many of
Lisa’s novels are available at Amazon.
com.
Faculty Awards
Although every faculty member significantly contributes to the Pingry experience, a handful
of faculty are recognized at the end of each school year—those who have made outstanding
contributions in education to The Pingry School. The following awards were given to faculty
in June 2008 for the 2008-2009 school year.
The Albert W. Booth Chair
for Master Teachers
The Herbert F. Hahn Junior
Faculty Award
Established in 1993, to honor
one of Pingry’s beloved Master
teachers, Albert “Albie” Booth.
Established in 1993, this award is
dedicated to the memory of this
Master Teacher to recognize
teachers who best personify the
Pingry philosophy.
This award is given to faculty members
from any department who have taught at
Pingry for at least five years and reflect
those qualities of honor, integrity, idealism, dedication to students, and reverence
for scholarship which defined Mr. Booth’s
life and work.
2008 – 2009
Evelyn R. Kastl, English
Matilde J. Yorkshire, Spanish
The Edward G. Engel ’33 Chair
for Mathematics and Science
Pingry’s first endowed Chair, established in 1983 in honor of “Eddie”
Engel ’33, the class “mathematical
and scientific genius,” who participated in everything from music to
soccer.
This award is given to a faculty member
in the mathematics or science department
who has taught at Pingry for at least five
years and made a significant contribution
to the life of the school outside the classroom.
2008 – 2011
Drew B. Burns, Science
This award is given to encourage young,
experienced teachers to stay in teaching
and recognizes good teaching and successful involvement in multiple extracurricular responsibilities.
2008 – 2009
Jill M. Driscoll, Grade 2
Douglas G. Scott, Physical
Education
The Senior Class Faculty Chair
This award was established to honor
a distinguished teacher and provide a
stipend for professional and curricular
development in his/her discipline.
2008 – 2009
Victoria A. Grant, English
The Norman B. Tomlinson,
Jr. ’44, Chair for History and
Literature
Established in 1989.
The David B. Buffum
History Chair
This award is given to a faculty member
in the humanities who has taught at
Pingry for at least five years and made
a significant contribution to the life of
the school outside the classroom.
2008 – 2011
Madeline H. Landau
This award recognizes outstanding
teachers in the disciplines of natural
sciences, mathematics, and technology.
2008 – 2009
Tommie S. Hata, Science
The Woodruff J. English ’27
Faculty Award
Established in 1996 in honor of
Woodruff J. English ’27.
This award recognizes teachers who instill
in their students the love of learning and
commitment to living the ideals of the
Honor Code.
2008 – 2009
Mary Ogden, Grade 1
Leslie Wolfson, Economics
2008 – 2011
Mark D. Facciani, History
These members of the faculty and
staff are departing Pingry after the
2007-2008 school year. We thank
them for their service to the school,
in many roles, and wish them all
the best in their future endeavors.
Martinsville Campus
Katherine Cassidy
Frederick G. H. Fayen II
Darren Greninger
Jane Hoffman ’94
Stephen Kovacs
Judith Lebowitz*
Emily Lewis
Barbara Reef
Jennifer Runge
Alan Stanfield
Thomas Williams
Laura Yorke ’98*
Short Hills Campus
Kristan Cassady
Laura Kehoe ’99
Arlene Rosenblum
Jennifer Schader
Danice Von Feldt
Gail Wills
* Leave of absence
33
summer /fall 2008
This chair is awarded to an outstanding
faculty member in the Pingry History
Department who embodies Mr. Buffum’s
dedication to and love of education and
history at Pingry.
Established in 2005 and first
awarded in June 2007.
Established in 1997 and first
awarded in June 2007.
First Awarded in June 2005, to honor
David B. Buffum who taught and
influenced a generation of Pingry
students.
James P. Whitlock, Jr. ’60
Faculty Development Fund
for Science, Mathematics,
and Technology
[ School News ]
Three Teachers Celebrate 25 Years at Pingry
Lower School teachers Susanne
Alford, Joan Pearlman, and Mary Lou
Cilli celebrated 25 years of teaching
at Pingry during the 2007-2008
school year. During Reunion
Weekend in May, the Pingry Alumni
Association honored all three women
as members of the Magistri Maxime
Laudandi (“Masters Most Greatly
to be Praised”), teachers who have
dedicated 25 or more years of service
to Pingry.
Mrs. Alford teaches fifth-grade language arts and study skills. Also a
homeroom teacher, she provides primary guidance for 13 students and
sees them at the beginning and end
of each school day. She began her
teaching career at The Browning
School in New York City, in charge
of Lower School reading and fifthgrade English. A few years later, she
moved to The Buckley School,
another independent boys’ day school
in New York City, where she taught
Grade 1. A decade of retirement and
two children later, Mrs. Alford was
anxious to return to the classroom
and became a substitute at Pingry.
That opportunity led to her current
position.
34
the pingry review
“She is a master teacher who has
brought the Pingry Honor Code into
her classroom each day, helped her
students to grow as learners in a
supportive environment, and has supported the Pingry sports program as
she watched her two sons—Jonathan
’92 and Stuart ’95—excel on a number of athletic teams,” says Lower
School Director Ted Corvino.
Dr. Pearlman, who also teaches fifthgrade language arts and study skills,
began her teaching career in the
Westfield Public School System as a
third-grade teacher. She then spent
several years as an adjunct professor
at New York University, teaching
literacy to undergraduate students as
well as supervising student teachers.
She taught in the Parsippany Public
School System and worked as a
substitute teacher at Pingry and other
independent schools in the area
prior to becoming a full-time faculty
member in 1983. She received her
doctorate in 1998, sponsored by
Pingry, and has taught graduate and
doctoral students at NYU since then
as an adjunct professor.
Mr. Corvino praises her as a homeroom teacher. “Joan is always available before, during, or after school to
work with children and they flock
to her for her help. The mother of
three Pingry alums—Heather ’89,
Chris ’92, and Megan ’96—she has
been a familiar face at events at both
campuses,” he says.
Prior to teaching primary science at
Pingry, Mrs. Cilli taught for 10 years
at St. Andrew’s Nursery School in
New Providence. Three of her colleagues at St. Andrew’s—Connie
Allan, Billie Foil, and Joanne
Coker—eventually came to Pingry
to teach, and they recommended
Mrs. Cilli when the science position
became available at Short Hills.
“She was always a pleasure to work
with and wonderful with the children. Pingry is lucky to have her,”
Mrs. Allan says.
Mrs. Cilli, mother of Lisa ’88, is
known for taking her students out of
the classroom to take advantage of
the outdoor laboratory the campus
provides. “She has brought the magic
of science to our K-3 students. Over
the years, she and her students have
trekked their way through most of the
35 acres at the Short Hills Campus,”
Mr. Corvino says. She and her students have a great time creating
maple syrup from the sap drawn from
two large sugar maple trees. “When
you have that much syrup, you have
to have a special pancake breakfast
where all the teachers and students
arrive in their pajamas,” he says.
The following two articles provide
a glimpse into Mrs. Alford’s, Dr.
Pearlman’s, and Mrs. Cilli’s classroom
activities during the past 25 years.
Mary Lou Cilli
During her 25 years of teaching primary science at the Lower School,
Mary Lou Cilli has taken full advantage of Mother Nature to bring
science to life for her students.
“The campus is beautiful, so I use
the grounds as much as possible
to incorporate nature into our science
curriculum. I enjoy going outdoors to
explore the changes in each season.
In the fall, we collect and identify
leaves and seeds. In the winter,
we look for animal tracks in
the snow. In the spring, we
observe the new growth all
around us.”
One of Mrs. Cilli’s most
popular projects every
year is to help the
Kindergarteners make
maple syrup from the
sap of the sugar
maple tree at the
Short Hills
Campus. A pancake breakfast is
then enjoyed by
all, and this tradition has been taking
place for over 25
years.
Mrs. Cilli is also
involved in afterschool enrichment
classes to further
increase the students’ love of science. She has
taught courses
such as “Rocks
Hounds,”
“Science in the
Kitchen,” and
“Birding.”
For the
first decade of her
teaching career at
the Lower School,
Mrs. Cilli taught
science by
pushing
a cart full of supplies and hands-on
activities to each classroom. Today,
the children come to her in a fullyequipped primary science lab.
Mrs. Cilli’s philosophy of teaching science to young children is to directly
involve the students through a wide
range of hands-on projects and activities. Students observe caterpillars
becoming butterflies and mealworms
turning into beetles, and one of the
highlights of last fall was watching the
birth of baby chicks. In May, The
Wetlands Institute from Cape May
visited her class so that students could
touch live marine animals, such as
starfish and crabs.
“We are so fortunate that the class
sizes at Pingry are small. Our students
have a natural curiosity and a thirst
for learning which make teaching
science very rewarding. I hope that I
have been able to inspire my students
to appreciate the beauty of nature all
around us.”
Our First 25 Years
at Pingry!
By Mrs. Susanne H. Alford and Dr. Joan P.
Pearlman
We joined the fifth-grade teaching
team in the fall of 1983 as Grade 5
transitioned to complete departmentalization. Under this new system,
Susanne was hired as the English
teacher, Joan was hired to teach reading, and everyone on the team taught
his/her discipline to every fifth-grade
student. Previously, each homeroom
teacher had been responsible for
teaching one period per day of English
and Reading, plus his/her specialty,
such as math or science.
We have different teaching styles and
personalities, yet complement each
other. We constantly learn from one
another and have mutual respect.
We would be hard-pressed to think of
another relationship as close as ours
in which two people get along so well.
Just as those who have been together
for long periods of time begin to think
alike, we have done the same. You
need only ask visitors who go from
one class to another. They frequently
walk into one of our classes and hear
the beginning of a sentence, and then
walk to the other class only to hear
the end of the same sentence.
Such has been the first 25 years of our
journey together. We have the same
teaching schedule which allows us
to meet on a daily basis. In addition,
we have a standing date every
Wednesday morning. During that
two-hour block of time, we plan lessons, revise lessons, critique our curriculum as well as our teaching methods,
and, of course, pool our ideas.
We are committed to fine-tuning our
curriculum based on the students’
ever-changing needs. For example,
this summer we created a separate
study skills course tailored to our fifthgrade students. We want to help them
adjust not only to their first year of
departmentalization, but also to
the Middle School. We keep growing
as educators as a result of our time
together and are fortunate that our
passion for teaching has not waned.
Who knows where our journey as
educators will take us in our next
25 years?
35
summer /fall 2008
Susanne Alford,
Mary Lou Cilli,
and Dr. Joan
Pearlman
We observed early on, and long before
the experts agreed, that English and
reading could not be considered separate subjects. We began having weekly meetings during which we would
plan, critique, and take advantage of
our individual and collective areas of
expertise. That concept of an inclusive language arts program became
clear when we both attended a writing and reading program at Columbia
University during the summer of
1991. It was Joyce Hanrahan, Head
of the Short Hills Campus at that
time, who encouraged us to take this
course—and take it together. Little
did she know what the results would
be! The enthusiasm began to build
from our first day in those classes.
Before the course had concluded, we
had brainstormed for ideas and developed a plan that would totally change
how and what we were teaching. We
burst into her office and explained
our ideas. Our excitement was quickly
reciprocated.
We felt that the best way to implement our vision was to develop one
comprehensive program that would
include English, reading, study skills,
vocabulary, and spelling. We thought
it would better serve the children if
each of us worked with the same students twice each day. That would
mean we would no longer be teaching
every fifth-grade student. By dividing
the student roster in half and having
fewer students, we would have the
opportunity to know—and therefore
teach—each child more effectively.
[ School News ]
Athletic Roundup Winter 2007-2008 Season Results
BOYS’ BASKETBALL: 13-13
Colonial Hills Conference: 3rd place in Hills Division
Somerset County Interscholastic Athletic Association
(SCIAA) Tournament: played through 2nd round
New Jersey State Interscholastic Association (NJSIAA)
Tournament: qualifier
All-Conference in Colonial Hills:
Jeff Tanenbaum (2nd team), Andrew Cala, Tyler Parsels
(Honorable Mentions)
Senior Jeff Tanenbaum career points: 1,525
(all-time leading scorer at Pingry)
Star-Ledger All-Somerset: Jeff Tanenbaum (3rd team)
Star-Ledger All-State (Non-Public): Jeff Tanenbaum
(3rd team)
Courier News All-Area: Jeff Tanenbaum, Tyler Parsels
(Honorable Mentions)
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL: 17-7
Colonial Hills Conference: 3rd place in Hills Division
Colonial Hills Conference “Player of the Year”:
Katie Occhipinti
Colonial Hills All-Conference teams: Katie Parsels
(2nd team), Casey Rupon, Victoria Morgan
(Honorable Mentions)
Senior Katie Occhipinti career points: 1,223
(all-time leading scorer at Pingry)
Star-Ledger All-Somerset All-Star: Katie Occhipinti
(3rd team)
Star-Ledger All-State (Non-Public): Katie Occhipinti
(2nd team)
Courier News All-Area: Katie Occhipinti, Katie Parsels
(Honorable Mentions)
Boys’ Fencing: 0-9
NJSIAA District II Individual Qualifier Sabre:
Craig Limoli, 1st
NJSIAA Squad State Championships
Sabre: Squad, 9th
NJSIAA Individual Championships Sabre: Craig Limoli
Star-Ledger All-State: Craig Limoli, Sabre (3rd team)
girls’ Fencing: 2-8
Boys’ Ice Hockey: 15-7-3
Morris County Secondary School Ice Hockey League
(MCSSIHL) Mennen Division: 3rd place
MCSSIHL Mennen Division Awards: Jay Sogliuzzo,
Dan Weiniger (1st team), Conor Starr
(2nd team), Tim Naratil (Honorable Mention)
MCSSIHL Rookie of the Year: Matt Beattie
Star-Ledger All-State: Dan Weiniger (3rd team)
Star-Ledger All-Star (Non-Public): Dan Weiniger
(2nd team)
Courier News All-Area: Dan Weiniger (1st team)
Jay Sogliuzzo, Conor Starr (2nd team), Ryan Kiska,
Andrew LaFontaine (Honorable Mentions)
Girls’ Ice Hockey: 1-11
WIHLMA (Women’s Ice Hockey League of the
Mid-Atlantic): Ranked 8th
WIHLMA Awards: Toland Lawrence (Defense, 2nd team)
Star-Ledger All-State Selection: Toland Lawrence
(3rd team)
Star-Ledger state rank: 5th
Boys’ Skiing: 25-5
New Jersey Ski Racing Association (NJSRA) Prep
Division Champions: 3rd in the GS, 3rd in the Slalom
League results: Sam Mackoff (1st), Sam Grabel (2nd),
Matt Ford (9th)
36
All NJSRA: Sam Mackoff (1st Team),
Sam Grabel (2nd Team)
Girls’ Skiing: 30-0
the pingry review
NJSRA: Champions for second consecutive year
State Champion Skiers: Kelsey Hiscano, Kate Strangfeld,
Danielle Lashley, Elizabeth Roberts, Jackie Reef,
Blake Vessa
NJSRA Prep Division: Champions for second
consecutive year. Prep League (1st), GS (1st),
Slalom (1st)
League results: Kelsey Hiscano (1st), Kate Strangfeld
(3rd), Danielle Lashley (8th), Brooke Conti (9th),
Liz Roberts (11th)
All NJSRA: Kelsey Hiscano (1st team),
Kate Strangfeld (3rd team)
Regional qualifiers: Kelsey Hiscano, Kate Strangfeld,
Sam Mackoff, and Sam Grabel
Squash: 16-5-0
New Jersey High School Champion: Aly Kerr
New Jersey High School Championship Finalist:
Brian O’Toole
U.S. National Tournament: girls 39th
U.S. National Tournament: boys 10th
Boys’ Swimming: 12-2
Colonial Hills Conference Championship: 2nd place
SCIAA Tournament: 2nd place
Prep B Tournament: 1st place
NJSIAA: 1st place (Non-Public B)
Big Blue Tournament: 2nd place
Colonial Hills Conference Individual Championships:
Nick Fink (100 Breaststroke, 1st place)
Somerset County Individual Championships: John
Guiffre (200-yd Individual Medley, 1st place; 100-yd
Butterfly, 1st place), Nick Fink (100-yd Breaststroke,
1st place)
Prep B Tournament: Team (1st place), Nick Fink
(100-yd Breaststroke, 1st place)
NJSIAA Meet of Champions: Claeson Dillon, John
Guiffre, Brandon Moy, Gordon Peeler (200 Free Relay,
3rd place), John Guiffre, Nicolas Fink, Brandon Moy,
Gordon Peeler (400 Free Relay, 7th place)
Star-Ledger Coach of the Year: Bill Reichle
Star-Ledger State Rank: 10th
Star-Ledger All-Somerset: John Guiffre (1st team,
200 free), Nicholas Fink (100 breaststroke, 2nd team),
Gordon Peeler (100 fly, 200 free relay, 200 medley relay,
3rd team) Brandon Moy (50 free, 400 free relay, 3rd team)
Courier News “Swimmer of the Year”: John Guiffre
Courier News All-Area: John Guiffre (200 individual
medley 1st team), Nicolas Fink (100 breaststroke,
2nd team) Gordon Peeler (200 freestyle, 2nd team),
Brandon Moy (Honorable Mention)
Girls’ Swimming: 11-1
Colonial Hills Conference Championship: 1st place
SCIAA Tournament: 3rd place
Prep A Tournament: 2nd place
Big Blue Tournament: 1st place
Cougar Invitational: 2nd place
Star-Ledger All-Somerset: Regan Fink (100 breaststroke,
1st team), Christina Daquila (200 freestyle, 2nd team),
Alysia Tsui (100 backstroke, 2nd team), Maja Feenick
(50 freestyle, 200 free relay, 200 medley relay, 3rd team)
Courier News All-Area: Christina Daquila (200 freestyle,
2nd team), Regan Fink (100 breaststroke, 2nd team),
Maja Feenick, Alysia Tsui (Honorable Mentions)
Boys’ Winter Track
Colonial Hills Conference Championship: 4th place
Prep B Championships: 1st place
NJSIAA Championships: 4th place
All-Conference: Matt LaForgia, Dan Schuchinsky,
Tucker Bourne, Grant Thomas, Tyler Reichert
All Prep: Matt LaForgia, Matt Rybak, Dan Schuchinsky,
Grant Thomas, Tyler Reichert
Star-Ledger All Non-Public B: Matt LaForgia,
Dan Schuchinsky, Tucker Bourne, Grant Thomas,
Tyler Reichert
Girls’ Winter Track
Colonial Hills Conference Championship: 4th place
Prep A division: 4th place
NJSIAA Championships: 2nd place
All-Conference: Olivia Tarantino, Olivia Delia,
Martha Gross, Kate Sowinski
All Prep A: Olivia Tarantino, Olivia Delia, Martha Gross,
Kate Sowinski
All Non-Public B: Olivia Tarantino, Olivia Delia,
Martha Gross, Kate Sowinski
Star-Ledger All Non-Public B: Olivia Tarantino
(3,200, 2nd team)
All-Somerset/West Jersey: Kate Sowinski
(55 dash, 3rd team)
Wrestling: 2-14
SCIAA Tournament: 12th place,
Trevor Topf (2nd place at 152 lbs.)
Rutgers Prep Tournament: Trevor Topf, David Young
(2nd place), Jack Muller, Andrew Stubbs (3rd place)
Districts: Team (9th place-out of 10 teams)
Courier News All-Area: Trevor Topf (Honorable Mention)
All-Area Top Records: Trevor Topf (152 1bs. weight
class: 17-11)
Athletic Roundup Spring 2008 Season Results
Colonial Hills Conference: 7th place in Hills Division
All-Conference in Colonial Hills: Brendan Burgdorf
(2nd team), Brian O’Toole and Louis Riccardi
(Honorable Mentions)
Star-Ledger All-Somerset: Brendan Burgdorf
(3rd team)
Courier News All-Area: Brendan Burgdorf
(Honorable Mention)
BOYS’ GOLF: 12-6
Colonial Hills Conference: 10-6
SCIAA Tournament: 9th place team
Colonial Hills Conference Championship: 4th place
team; Jay Sogliuzzo (10th place)
Cherry Valley Tournament: 8th place
All-Conference in Colonial Hills: Dan Weiniger
(2nd team), Jay Sogliuzzo (Honorable Mention)
As of June 15, 2008, Head Coach Joe Forte has 309
career victories
summer /fall 2008
BASEBALL: 6-13
37
[ School News ]
GIRLS’ GOLF: 7-4
Prep B Championships: 4th place
All-State Prep: Taylor Guiffre (1st team)
All-North Jersey Girls Golf League: Taylor Guiffre
(1st team)
North Jersey Girls Golf League: 3rd place team
BOYS’ LACROSSE: 5-10
All-Conference Waterman Division: Henry Burchenal
(1st team), Eric Oplinger (2nd team), Tanner Combias
(Honorable Mention)
As of June 15, 2008, Head Coach Mike Webster has
204 career victories
GIRLS’ LACROSSE: 8-7
SCIAA: Semi-Finalist
NJSIAA (Non-Public A) Tournament: Won 1st round
NJISAA Prep Tournament: Won 2nd round
Courier News All-Area: Katie Parsels (1st team),
Hillary Densen (2nd team), Jennifer Lang, Jordan Shelby
(3rd team), Katie Bennett, Darragh Egan
(Honorable Mentions)
SOFTBALL: 10-11
Colonial Hills Conference “Player of the Year”:
Katie Occhipinti
All-Conference in Colonial Hills: Maja Feenick,
Emma Carver (2nd team), Biff Parker-Magyar,
Jess Westerman (Honorable Mentions)
Courier News All-Area: Katie Occhipinti (2nd team)
BOYS’ TENNIS: 20-4
Colonial Hills Conference: Champions in Hills Division
SCIAA Tournament: 2nd place
NJSIAA Non-Public A: Sectional Finalists
Somerset County “Player of the Year”: Garrett Schuman
(undefeated in regular season play)
All-Conference: Jeff Tanenbaum (2nd team),
Evan Ju (3rd team), Jared Cohen, Brian Weiniger
(Honorable Mentions)
Star-Ledger State Ranking: 14th
Star-Ledger All-Somerset: Garrett Schuman (1st team
singles), David Kerr, Will Klein (1st team doubles)
Courier News All-Area: Garrett Schuman (1st team),
Evan Ju, Will Klein (2nd team)
Courier News All-Area By Flight: Garrett Schuman
(2nd team), Evan Ju, Will Klein (3rd team),
Jeff Tanenbaum (Honorable Mention)
Colonial Hills “Coach of the Year”: Gary Miller
BOYS’ TRACK: 7-0
Colonial Hills Conference: Champions in Hills Division
Colonial Hills Conference Championship: 2nd place
Colonial Hills Relays: 3rd place
Prep B Championships: 1st place
SCIAA Tournament: 9th place
NJSIAA Non-Public B: 2nd place
All-State Non-Public B: Carlton Bowers
All-Colonial Hills: Carlton Bowers (1st team)
Star-Ledger “Breakout Performer of the Year”:
Carlton Bowers
Somerset County/All-Group: Carlton Bowers
(All Non-Public 2nd team)
Courier News “Most Improved Athlete”: Carlton Bowers
Courier News All-Area: Carlton Bowers (2nd team),
Dan Schuchinsky (3rd team), Matt LaForgia
(Honorable Mention)
GIRLS’ TRACK: 7-0
38
the pingry review
Colonial Hills Conference: Champions in Hills Division
Colonial Hills Conference Championship: 2nd place
Colonial Hills Relays: 3rd place
SCIAA Relays Championship: 9th place
SCIAA Tournament: 7th place
Prep A Tournament: 2nd place
NJSIAA B Division: 3rd place
Colonial Hills All-Conference: Martha Gross,
Olivia Delia, Olivia Tarantino, Louisa Lee (1st team)
All-Somerset County: Martha Gross, Olivia Delia
All-State Prep A: Olivia Delia, Martha Gross,
Olivia Tarantino, Louisa Lee, Adrienne Spiegel,
Auriel Dickey, Jackie Reef
NJSIAA All Non-Public B: Martha Gross
School records:
Martha Gross, 400 m—57.96 (fully automatic time)
Casey Rupon, pole vault—8 feet
Kate Sowinski, Olivia Delia, Terdoo Nwaoduh,
Martha Gross, 1600 m—4:03.77 (fully automatic time)
Louisa Lee, Martha Gross, Olivia Delia, Olivia Tarantinto,
Distance Medley—12:37.71 (fully automatic time)
Star-Ledger All-Somerset All-Star: Martha Gross
(1st team), Olivia Delia (2nd team)
Star-Ledger All Non-Public B: Martha Gross (2nd team),
Olivia Tarantino (3rd team)
[ School News ]
Pingry Robotics Team Faces FIRST Challenge
Arriving for the Competition
The Pingry robotics team competed
in their first competition the weekend of April 4-6, 2008. Arriving
early Friday morning for the New
York City Regional FIRST (For
Inspiration and Recognition of
Science and Technology) Robotics
Competition at the Jacob Javits
Center in New York, the team faced
a daunting challenge. As other area
high school teams participated in the
opening practice rounds, the Pingry
team scrambled to fix their robot,
which had been damaged prior to
shipping. Disqualification seemed
possible—but, as Pingry science
teacher and robotics advisor Jeffrey
Jenkins later observed, the team
was determined to compete.
The Game Rules
For each match, an alliance of three
robot teams competes against another alliance in the robot arena. The
arena is an elliptical track, bisected
by a six-and-a-half-foot-high metal
overpass. On top of this overpass,
four 40-inch red and blue trackballs
rest, soon to be knocked down by
robotic appendages that push and
grab. Once the trackball is down—
rolling and bouncing on the track—
the teams score points by picking up
a ball and throwing or bouncing it
over the metal overpass. Teams also
score points for simply completing
laps. Teams control their robot with
joysticks.
Jack DiMassimo, Victoria Morgan, and Connor Jennings help build Pingry’s robot
scooping them from the track, and
raising them back up so that they
could be rolled over the overpass;
this lift mechanism was what the
team fixed on Friday. Although team
members refined its design after each
match, the robot still had trouble
scooping up trackballs during matches. Mr. Jenkins explained that the lift
did not perform as expected because,
in constructing it, the team had had
to rely on hand tools, rather than
more precise machining equipment.
“It would be great if we had the
capacity to fabricate what the
students designed,” he says.
The Competition
Pingry’s robot had a forklift-like
mechanism for knocking down
the balls from the high overpass,
At the competition, a robot has to knock down a
trackball from the overpass
Although the robot’s forklift did not
work as planned, the robot proved
a nimble adversary, holding its own
against more elaborate metallic
behemoths. Thanks to their robot’s
quickness and the team’s success in
strategizing with alliance teams,
Pingry earned a 4 - 4 record and
finished 34th out of the 68 teams,
The team members who attended the
weekend competition were co-captains Craig Limoli (VI), Victoria
Morgan (IV), and J.P. Patrizio (VI);
sophomore Bozhena Lisko; juniors
Connor Jennings, Michael Fernando,
and James White; and seniors Jack
DiMassimo and David Young.
Sophomore Victoria Morgan enjoyed
the weekend event. “I thought it was
a really fun experience. My brother
started a team at his high school
three years ago, and I always went to
watch his team compete. I’m glad
that Pingry now has a team I can be
on too. I know people hear ‘robotics’
and think ‘nerd,’ but it’s actually
pretty cool once you’re a part of it,”
she says.
Next Year’s Forecast
Mr. Jenkins hopes that next year
alumni and/or others in the local
community will help the robotics
team with fabrication, possibly
donating machine shop time. He
also points out that the robotics
competition gives alumni and others
a chance to mentor students.
39
summer /fall 2008
On Saturday morning, the seeding
round of the competition began, with
fans lining the bleachers to cheer on
their teams. Just beyond the arena is
a separate pit area where teams make
last-minute adjustments to their
robots. There, team 2577—Pingry’s
team—waited for match play to
begin, having restored their robot
to life on Friday.
placing ahead of teams with more
years of experience. “I couldn’t be
more pleased with how our students
stepped up to the challenge of competing at the very highest level,”
Mr. Jenkins says.
Scene Around Campus
On German Day, Sra. Carr dressed in a typical
Austrian dirndl. She stands in front of her Foreign
Language Bulletin Board, featuring the world
countries where French, German, Spanish, and
Latin are spoken
The Foreign Language Week gallery outside the Middle School featured projects written by sixth-grade
Spanish students about Latin American countries. Front row: Ian Edwards. Second row, left to right:
Melanie Naratil, Kristen Stuzynski, Nicole Zezza, Haley La Fontaine, and Hunter Clark. Third row:
Tracey Lin
Foreign Language Week
Middle School students sampled
international cuisine and celebrated
foreign languages and cultures as part
of National Foreign Language Week
in March 2008. Foreign language
faculty member Jeanine Carr, who
has organized the weeklong celebration at the Lower School for the past
25 years, brought the festivities to
the Middle School for the first time
this year.
40
the pingry review
“The Commons lends itself to grand
decoration for appropriate flags and
posters. All the lockers [featured]
the languages taken by each Middle
School student. A color scheme
helped identify languages from afar,”
Sra. Carr says.
Thematic menus in the cafeteria
included food from a different country each day, such as German apple
strudel, Italian ravioli soup, Chinese
pork fried rice, Spanish churros,
and a French vegetable and cheese
quiche. The week’s main event was
a quiz bowl with dozens of questions
about countries and cultures around
the world
The Lower School also continued its
long-standing participation in the
event. French faculty member Jane
Roxbury and German faculty member Norman LaValette visited the
Short Hills Campus to expose the
fifth-grade students to new languages.
They are studying Spanish and can
switch to other languages when they
come to the Martinsville Campus.
Sixth-grade Spanish students displayed their autobiographies written in Spanish. Left to right: Alyssa
Baum, Chris Devito, Harrison Boyajian, Roshni
Kotla, Tracey Lin, Bart Zanelli, Natalie Gilbert,
Kendall Smith, Reeve Carver, and Ryan Lister
Mr. LaValette taught the Lower School students
German words and phrases
Scene Around Campus
1
2
Family Arts Festival
Pingry celebrated the arts and
the fifth anniversary of the
Hostetter Arts Center with a
Family Arts Festival on April
5, 2008. The afternoon
showcased the artistic talents
of students in Kindergarten
through Form VI.
1
Members of the Strolling
Madrigal Singers. Left to
right: Lindsey James (V),
Brian Hart (V), and Maggie
Bonadies (V).
2 A performance by members of the Jazz Ensemble.
3 The Balladeers.
4 Pottery demonstration
with seniors Tanner
Combias and Gordon Peeler.
5
Drama Department
Chair Al Romano, Fine
Arts Department Chair
Miles Boyd, and Music
Department Chair
Andrew Moore, joined by
Headmaster Nat Conard,
cut one of the three
birthday cakes.
3
6 Children helped paint
a Community Art Project.
7
Members of the String
Ensemble: First row, left
to right: Sydney Li (I), Brian
Toner (I), and Justin Louie
(VI). Back row, left to right:
Julia Price (II) and Koryna
4
5
O’Besso (6).
8
Faculty member Trisha
Wheeler leads a dance
workshop for children.
41
7
8
summer /fall 2008
6
Scene Around Campus
9
9 Tracy Arnold, mother
The Middle School
Play in May 2008 was
“At the Crossroads: Stories,
Songs, and Dances from
the Heart,” folktales from
Africa and India, Grimm’s
fairy tales, and Aesop’s
Fables. From left to right:
10 Kindergarten students
Molly Schulman (II), Eleanor
Johnson (II), Temi Butler (I),
Kevin Sampaio (II), and
Conor Malloy (I).
of Kindergarten student
Amir Arnold, reads to Lower
School students during the
National African-American
Read-In on February 4,
2008.
Leah Edwards, Kazi Holston,
and Teddy McGraw were
invited to play the drums
when the Spirit Ensemble,
a world music touring
group, visited the Short
Hills Campus on February
15, 2008.
11
During the Spring
Concert at the Short Hills
Campus on May 9, 2008,
Patricia Finn conducted the
Handbell Choir. Left to
right: fifth-grade students
Kaelea Composto, Jana
Wilson, Natalie Mullins,
and Evy Barnett.
42
12
13 Kindergarten student
Teddy McGraw helps his
10
11
classmates load the
BRIDGES truck. Read
more about Pingry’s
involvement with
BRIDGES in this issue’s
articles about community
service.
14 Pingry students and
their guests from the Lycée
Jean Mermoz in Dakar,
Senegal. The 22 students
from Senegal were hosted
by 19 Pingry families for
a week.
the pingry review
13
14
12
Scene Around Campus
15
15 Pingry’s chapter of the
Cum Laude Society, which
recognizes the academic
excellence of juniors and
seniors. The newest members
were inducted in April 2008.
Students who were elected as
juniors during the 2007-2008
school year: Daniel Elkind,
Michael Fernando, Diana Jiang,
Audrey Li, Zara Mannan,
Jenny Palacios, Sarah Paton,
Jacqueline Reef, Giancarlo
Riotto, Andrew Sartorius,
Colleen Tapen, and Christine
Willinger.
Students who were elected as
seniors during the 2007-2008
school year: Parul Agarwal,
Kerry Bickford, Wyatt Komarin,
Lauren Kronthal, Ryan
Maxwell, Caroline Pinke,
Angela Ramirez, Meredith
Skiba, Andrew Willinger,
Richard Zacharias, Jessica
Zhao, and Melinda Zoephel.
16
Faculty member Kristan
Cassady conducts the Middle
School String Ensemble
in the Middle School
Commons.
17
The Drama IV Spring
Play in April 2008 was
Tom Griffin’s comedy drama
Amateurs. Left to right:
Seniors Scott Eckenthal,
16
Hallie Bianco, Rocquan Lucas,
Jenna Devine, Rick Zacharias,
and Maureen Brady.
18 Kindergarten students
Victoria Gu, Alexandra Weber,
Madeline Skapper, Julie Katz,
and Renee Chan, and faculty
member Gail Wills enjoy the
pancake breakfast made
complete with syrup that the
students made from sap in
the school’s maple tree.
19 The Drama and Music
17
Departments presented
Gilbert and Sullivan’s The
Pirates of Penzance as the
spring musical in February
and March 2008. The cast,
crew, and orchestra were
comprised of Upper School
students.
20 First-grade student
Andrew Cowen with his grandparents on Grandparents’ and
Special Friends’ Day.
18
43
summer /fall 2008
19
20
[ alumni News ]
A Message from
the PAA President
Serving as PAA President the past
two years has been a very rewarding
and fulfilling experience for me. A
strong, active board and an everenthusiastic Pingry Alumni Relations
office have helped us achieve record
attendance levels at several events
with many alumni returning to the
school for the first time in decades,
and increased participation from
young alumni. These results tie
directly to the objectives set forth in
the PAA Mission Statement: to support and promote The Pingry School,
preserve the values, history, and tradition of The Pingry School, and
foster the attachment of the alumni
community to The Pingry School.
44
the pingry review
One of the most exciting responsibilities as PAA President is to lead the
Awards Committee in the selection
process for two important recognitions: the Letter-in-Life and the
Nelson Carr Awards. We have so
many talented Pingry alumni who
have distinguished careers in professional or civic life and who are dedicated to serving and supporting
Pingry. This year, I was thrilled and
honored to present the Letter-in-Life
Award to Bruce Jacobsen ’78 for his
significant career accomplishments
and dedication to supporting the
environment. His engaging presentation to the Class of 2008 during
graduation ceremonies on June 8 can
be found online at www.pingry.org,
under “All-School News.” I also had
the pleasure of awarding John Wight
’62 with the Nelson Carr Award for
his many years of dedicated service to
The Pingry School; the presentation
took place at the PAA Annual
Meeting during Reunion Weekend.
We have seen an incredible amount
of activity in just the first half of this
year. In January, we held our annual
Back from College Luncheon at the
Martinsville Campus with over 50
alumni returning for the event, where
they had the opportunity to interact
with the current senior class and
faculty members. Later that month,
we hosted the 10th annual Pingry
Career Day, which was, once again,
a tremendous success—the entire
senior class benefited from the participation of 28 alumni. Career Day was
initiated in 1999 as a way for seniors
to learn more about possible career
choices. This year students gathered
in the Macrae Theater to hear keynote speaker David Gelber ’59, producer of 60 Minutes, describe how his
news career started. Students then
attended three consecutive 45-minute
career sessions of their choice. Pingry
alumni shared their career experiences across a variety of professions
including law, advertising and marketing, investment banking, fine and
visual arts, media, sports marketing,
and medicine. We say a big “thank
you” to all alumni who volunteered
for this highly-regarded annual event.
Throughout the winter and spring,
we hosted college luncheons for
young alumni attending Princeton,
the University of Pennsylvania, and
Columbia. Additionally, we organized
alumni receptions in Vero Beach,
Delray Beach, Atlanta, and
Princeton.
This year’s Reunion Weekend in
May was another record-breaker,
with a total of 709 registered guests
attending various events throughout
the weekend. On Friday we held the
50-Year Club Luncheon, where members of the Class of ’58 were inducted
into the club. Later that day alumni
attended the Magistri Induction for
faculty members reaching 25 years of
service to Pingry. This year’s honorees, Susanne Alford, Mary Lou Cilli,
and Joan Pearlman, were inducted by
Ted Corvino, head of the Lower
School. Afterward, Paul Scrudato ’78
paid tribute to faculty member Fred
Fayen in honor of his 45 years of
dedicated service to Pingry. At the
Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony,
trainer Mike Lalley, field hockey
player Kim Susko ’97, coach Rick
Weiler, the 1947 Golf Team, the
1958 Golf Team, and the 1977 Boys’
Lacrosse Team were inducted, and
then everyone celebrated at
Reminisce Under the Big Top, held
in the Hostetter Arts Center due to
inclement weather.
On Saturday at the PAA Annual
Meeting, Headmaster Nat Conard
presented his annual State of the
School address and we elected new
officers to the PAA Board:
President Steve Lipper ’79,
Vice President Allison Zoellner ’83,
Vice President Sam Partridge ’92,
Vice President Woody Weldon ’91,
Treasurer Chip Korn ’89, and
Secretary John Campbell ’88.
The annual meeting was followed by
a short play written, directed, and
performed by alumni. Alumni then
gathered under the tent for our popular clam bake, and over 40 people
attended the Alumni Lacrosse game.
The Class of 1958 continued the tradition of handily beating the 25th
reunion class at a “friendly” game of
lawn bowling. On Saturday evening
reunion parties for class years ending
in 3 and 8 were held in various locations in New Jersey and New York.
[ alumni News ]
Congratulations to all who were honored throughout Reunion Weekend!
2008 Nelson L. Carr Service Award
This year, we reintroduced the
Senior BBQ, held at the headmaster’s
home at the Short Hills Campus.
Members of the senior class were
inducted into the Pingry Alumni
Association and encouraged to maintain their ties with their classmates
and faculty members as they embark
on the next chapter of their lives.
Each senior was given a Pingry
Laundry Bag, which will certainly
come in handy during their college
years.
As my tenure as President of the
Pingry Alumni Association comes to
an end, I would like to thank everyone who supported the PAA and me
over the past two years, including the
PAA Board and the Board of
Trustees. I especially want to thank
Stuart Lederman ’78, Gordy Sulcer
’61, Director of Alumni Relations
and Annual Giving Jackie Sullivan,
Director of Development Melanie
Hoffmann, Miller Bugliari ’52, Nat
Conard, Vicki Brooks, Ned Atwater
’63, Bill Engel ’67, and Stu Lavey ’63.
Stu’s sudden passing was a shock and
left many of us with a deep sadness.
He was a true mentor, and I will be
forever grateful for his support and
encouragement over the years. Stu
will be deeply missed and will be
remembered for his love for Pingry
and his ongoing commitment and
dedication to the school.
Warm regards,
E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78
John W. Wight ’62 is the recipient
of the 2008 Nelson L. Carr Service
Award. The award, named in honor
of Nelson L. Carr ’24 in 1992, is
presented annually to an alumnus
who has demonstrated faithful and
dedicated service in support of
Pingry. Nelson devoted almost 70
years of service to Pingry and served
as president of the Pingry Alumni
Association from 1940 to 1941 and
as a class representative.
At the Annual Meeting of the
Alumni Association during Reunion
Weekend, PAA President E. Lori
Halivopoulos ’78 presented John
with the award. He attended
Reunion with his wife Mary and
daughter Elizabeth ’03 and was
appreciative and surprised to receive
the honor.
John is clearly well-deserving of the
Nelson Carr Award; his years of
dedication and service to Pingry are
exemplary. John was a member of
the Pingry Alumni Association for
several years, spoke at Career Day,
volunteered at reunion, hosted class
parties, reported class news as a
class agent, served on the golf outing committee, and was involved
with many Class of ’62 activities.
As a student, John was a member
of the Blue Key, Spanish, and Math
Clubs and the Athletic Executive
Committee. He played soccer, basketball, and golf, and was captain
of the golf team for two seasons.
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering at
Cornell University and spent his
career, almost 40 years, at the architectural/engineering firm of HNTB
Corporation, which is among the
top design firms in the areas of
transportation, bridges, and aviation. He joined the company in
1968, and became Executive Vice
President in 1993 and Chief
Operating Officer in 1995.
“I never considered what I did [for
Pingry] anything but enjoyable, and
it gave me an opportunity to give
back to a great school in some small
way,” he says.
45
summer /fall 2008
Thank you for the opportunity to
serve the PAA over the past two
years. The experience has enriched
me in so many ways. I look forward
to continuing to serve as a PAA
board member and supporting the
organization’s new leadership.
John W. Wight ’62 with his daughter Liz ’03 and wife Mary
2008 Letter-in-Life
Award presented to
Bruce Jacobsen ’78
The integration of education,
technology, and communications
has been the hallmark of Bruce
Jacobsen’s career ever since he graduated from Pingry. Teachers Antoine
duBourg, Miller Bugliari ’52, Thomas
Johnson ’59, and Gordon Rode ’67
developed both his affinity for math
and science, and, through lab projects, the hands-on approach which
inspired him to create and build.
Bruce is grateful for the high level of
instruction he received in physics,
including an incredibly well-equipped
lab. Outside the classroom, he played
tennis all four years of high school,
he was news editor of “The Pingry
Record” during his junior and senior
years, he served as class president
during his sophomore and junior
years, and he was elected president of
the student council his senior year.
46
the pingry review
He majored in history at Yale
University and worked for the university’s newspaper, the “Yale Daily
News,” serving as senior editor for one
year. Bruce was elected to Phi Beta
Kappa, graduated Summa Cum Laude
in 1982, and earned his M.B.A. from
Stanford Business School in 1986. His
other newspaper reporting included
positions with “The Atlanta JournalConstitution,” and “The Miami
Herald,” and he was a correspondent
for the “Hartford Courant” and “The
New York Times.” While in college,
he started a book publishing company, RJ Publications, and co-authored
several books. Although it was a
relatively small company at the
time, Bruce joined the Microsoft
Corporation in 1986. As general
manager of Microsoft’s Kids/Games
Business Unit, he developed games
and marketed titles that included
Microsoft Flight Simulator. Bruce
worked on many educational products, including the first versions of
the programming language used in
Bruce Jacobsen ’78 holds his Letter-in-Life citation. From left: his niece Lizzie Durkin, sister Martha
Durkin, nephew Alec Durkin, and mother Betty Jacobsen, and Headmaster Nat Conard
LEGO Mindstorms robots. In 1995,
Microsoft asked him to assume the
position of Chief Operating Officer
for DreamWorks Interactive, a joint
venture between Microsoft and
DreamWorks, the entertainment
company formed by Steven Spielberg,
Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen.
In 1996, following a decade with
Microsoft, Bruce became President
and Chief Operating Officer of
RealNetworks, Inc., a leader in
streaming media, and oversaw the
company’s milestone of going public.
He later became a consultant for
RealNetworks and a member of its
board of directors. Then, in 2000, he
started to teach physics at Garfield
High School in Seattle, which led
him toward a new career endeavor.
Bruce feels strongly that technology
“levels the playing field between
those who have more and those
who have less.” As computer access
becomes available to all income levels, a computer lab provides all students with the same learning tools,
and he perceives computers as great
vehicles for students to acquire a
first-class educational experience.
With that in mind, he founded
Kinetic Books in 2001. This software
company creates a digital curriculum
for math and physics, including the
physics program that Bruce produced,
and these courses are used by 80,000
high school and college students in
48 states and 15 countries. The software incorporates audio, animation,
and text, and it is intended to replace
traditional textbooks.
Bruce’s commitment to non-profit
organizations encompasses environmental and educational initiatives.
He was a member of the national
board of The Trust for Public Land,
the nation’s largest land trust, which
conserves land in many forms, such
as parks and historic sites, for the
public to enjoy. He helped lead the
effort to preserve 30,000 acres in the
state of Washington, the last habitat
of the lynx in that state. Currently,
he is the chairman of College Access
Now, a program which helps lowincome high school students apply
for and earn admission to college.
Many of these students are the first
members of their family to attend
college, and they receive financial
support. He also sponsored the
expansion into Africa of “Room to
Read,” which builds classrooms and
libraries in developing countries.
Through his dedication to improving
people’s lives with the most recent
technological innovations, founding
a company that allows any student
to have access to state-of-the-art education, and serving the greater community, Bruce Jacobsen has earned
distinction in his field. In gaining distinction for himself, he has brought
honor to The Pingry School.
47
summer 2008
[ alumni News ]
1 2
Reunion Weekend
May 16-17, 2008
1 Alumni visit the history
class of John Crowley-Delman ’97,
far left, conducted around the
Harkness table.
2
5
Standing: Kenneth Engler ’58
and Tom Behr ’58. Sitting: Peter
Sherwood ’58, Owen Shea ’58,
Terry Corbin ’58, and Peter
Behr ’58.
Alumni visit Dr. Susan
Dineen’s English class.
6 Theodore Walter ’58, left, and
3 Donald McCulloch ’58.
4 The Buttondowns sing at
50-year citation and Pingry tie
at the 50-Year Club Lunch.
the 50-Year Club Lunch.
Steve Schwarz ’58, right, present
Gregory McNab, Jr. ’58 with his
7 Joe Irenas ’58.
8 Denny Diebolt ’48.
3
4
5
48
the pingry review
6
7
8
9 Headmaster Nat
Conard and the late
Charlie Day ’50.
10
Jo Sherwood, her
husband Peter Sherwood
’58, and Mary Lou Davis,
wife of John Davis ’58.
11 Charles Halsey ’34
9
and Arthur Oschwald ’38.
10
12 Manton Martin ’35
and his wife Rosemarie
Gift in the Hostetter Arts
Center.
13
Jim Porter ’53 and
Middle School Director
Phil Cox.
14 Billy Cunningham ’77,
third from left, and his
family. He is a member
of the 1977 Boys’
Lacrosse Team inducted
into the Hall of Fame.
11 12
15 Stuart Lederman ’78,
faculty member Mary
Ogden, and Jeff Miller ’77.
16
Mandy Webster, Mike
Lalley, Billy Cunningham
’77, and Lacrosse coach
Mike Webster.
13 14
17 Kathryn Gasorek
McAdams ’78 and Hans
Bonn ’68.
18
Bob Horning, Jr. ’48,
his wife Joan, Al Strickler
’48, and his wife Anne.
19 Bruce Gallit ’58 and
Peter Behr ’58.
summer /fall 2008
15 16
17 18
49
19
[ alumni News ]
20 21
22
20 Louie Dames and his wife
Maggie Corbet ’78.
21 Chris Hampson ’98 in the
Hostetter Arts Center gallery
with two of his photographs.
22 Jeff Edwards ’78, Henry
Ogden ’78, and his wife Mary
Ogden.
23 Brad Bonner ’93 and faculty
23
member Tom Boyer.
24 August Arace ’48 and
Al Bauer ’45.
25 Headmaster Nat Conard,
Stuart Lederman ’78, and
Stuart’s daughter Jordan at the
Headmaster’s Breakfast.
26 Joe Irenas ’58 and Gordy
Sulcer ’61 at the Headmaster’s
Breakfast.
27 Denny Diebolt ’48,
Headmaster Nat Conard, and
Kimball Marsh ’48 at the
Headmaster’s Breakfast.
28 Headmaster Nat Conard
and Owen Shea ’58 at the
Headmaster’s Breakfast.
50
the pingry review
24 25
26 27
28
31
29 30
29 Jane ’94 and Christian
Hoffman ’94 and their daughter
Avery.
30 Grant Smith ’77 and Patricia
Fernandez Garcia ’83.
35
Top row: Richard LeBuhn ’83,
Ilene Goldman ’83, and Lance
Gould ’83. Bottom row: Buffy
Cave ’83, Adrienne Cohen Sodar
’83, and Debra Guss ’83.
36
Emily Manly and her
husband Justin Manly ’98.
31 Daniel Brown ’58.
32 Alumni enjoy the Clam
32
37 Barry Perlman ’83, Richard
Bake.
LeBuhn ’83, Naomi Perlman,
33 Suzanne Bober Weckesser ’88
and Ed Meyercord ’83.
34 Peter Lazor, husband of
Atwater ’63.
and her daughter Laila.
38 Becki Atwater and Chuck
Cathleen Pace Lazor ’88, and
their son Wyatt.
33
51
36
35
37 38
summer /fall 2008
34
[ alumni News ]
39 40
41
39 Kim Hussey and her
46 James Sisto ’77 and
40 Faculty member Fred
Alumni Lacrosse Game.
husband Timothy Hussey ’88.
Fayen and Gardiner Welch ’88.
41 Gerry Scully ’88 and
his wife and son.
42
42 Sean Love ’83 at lawn
bowling.
43 Todd Boylan ’98 at the
43
Clam Bake.
44
Penny Bunn McCool
’83 sitting in her newly-
won chair.
45 Chris Franklin ‘96, his
wife Maggie, and their
daughter Lynda.
44 45
52
the pingry review
46 47
48 49
John Brady ’78 at the
47
The alumni lacrosse
team.
48 Peter Behr ’58 shows
Coach Mike Webster the
old Pingry lacrosse helmet
at the Alumni Lacrosse
Game. The helmet belongs
to Peter’s twin brother
Thomas ’58, who taught
and coached at Pingry in
the 1960s.
49 Alumni Lacrosse
Game: Cary Corrigan ’08,
Tanner Combias ’08,
Kim Kimber ’07, and
Brad Bonner ’93.
50 51
52 53
56
54
53
55
50 1948 Class Party.
51 1963 and 1968 Class Party.
52 1973 Class Party.
53 1978 Class Party.
54 1983 Class Party.
55 1988 Class Party.
56 1993 Class Party.
57 1998 Class Party.
58 2003 Class Party.
58
Save the Date! Reunion Weekend at the Martinsville Campus, May 15-16, 2009
For classes ending in 4 and 9
summer /fall 2008
57
[ alumni News ]
Athletic Hall of Fame Adds 3 Individuals and 3 Teams
The 1977 Boys’ Lacrosse Team
Kim learned new techniques that
inspired her teammates and coach.
Mrs. Lee also highlighted the fact
that Kim was the first athlete ever
selected by The Star-Ledger as
“Player of the Week.” In her acceptance speech, Kim thanked Mrs. Lee
for her encouragement and impact on
her life as a student, and thanked her
parents for their continuing support.
Pingry’s Hall of Fame honors
former student athletes, coaches, or athletic staff members
who have demonstrated leadership and whose athletic accomplishments have been of the
highest caliber while a student,
coach, or athletic staff member
at Pingry.
54
Eligibility begins 10 years after
the nominee graduates. Coaches and athletic staff are eligible
once they have retired from
coaching or working in that
role at Pingry.
the pingry review
The 2008 inductees for the Athletic
Hall of Fame are field hockey player
Kim Susko ’97, athletic trainer J.
Michael Lalley, lacrosse and swimming coach Richard Weiler, the 1947
Golf Team, the 1958 Golf Team, and
the 1977 Boys’ Lacrosse Team. The
inductees were honored on May 16
during Reunion Weekend. The
ceremony opened with remarks by
Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse,
who provided an overview of Pingry’s
athletics program.
Kim Susko ’97 and her parents Brick, left, and Chris
Mr. Lalley, a certified athletic trainer,
anatomy, physiology, and health
teacher, and two-time dedicatee of
Pingry’s yearbook, devoted 33 years
to caring for Pingry students. Marc ’86
Kim Susko was in the starting varsity
field hockey lineup every year during
high school, helped lead her team to
championships, and earned multiple
honors. During those four seasons,
she scored 48 goals and made 40
assists to help the team compile a
record of 64 wins, 7 losses, and 6 ties.
In her senior year, she scored 23 goals
and led the team to conference and
county championships, a school
record for most victories in a single
season, and a team ranking of 7th in
the state by The Star-Ledger.
Coach Judy Lee praised her for being
a “complete player” and said that
Mike Lalley, his wife MaryAnn, and his son
Marc ’86
informal, personal way. It was always
about us and never about him,” he
said. Vic mentioned that Mr. Weiler
motivated the team, showed concern
for the team members, prepared
thoroughly for meets, and taught
the important lesson of moving on
after a loss.
Miller Bugliari ’52 introduced the
golf teams. Ed Roll ’47 and David
Baldwin ’47 accepted on behalf of
the undefeated 1947 team who won
the Union County Tournament,
while Bill Hetfield ’58 and Ted
Walter Jr. ’58 spoke for the 1958
team, who won the Union County
championship for the second consecutive year.
The 1958 Golf Team
His teams compiled impressive
records season after season. Many of
his students played for varsity teams
in college, and three of his lacrosse
players were named All-American
in college. He was instrumental in
establishing lacrosse at Pingry in
1956 and became head coach of the
varsity team in 1959. The annual
Richard C. Weiler Lacrosse Award
was established in 1973.
Rick Weiler and his wife Jean
Vic Pfeiffer Jr. ’67, who swam for four
years on the varsity team, described
Coach Weiler’s outstanding attributes. “He connected with us in an
spoke about his father’s dedication,
commitment, and composure, adding
that he tries every day to emulate his
father’s qualities.
All of the inductees thanked the
Hall of Fame Committee for selecting them, said they were honored to
be included in this prestigious group,
and thanked Pingry for the opportunity to be immersed in athletic and
educational excellence. If you would
like to nominate someone for the
Hall of Fame, please complete the
nomination form at www.pingry.org/
alumni/ahof.html.
55
summer /fall 2008
“This was my life for 33 years,” Mr.
Lalley said. He praised his Pingry
colleagues and student trainers and
expressed thanks for 33 years of
memories.
Coach Weiler, whose Pingry career
spanned 40 years, proved to be an
invaluable force behind Pingry’s
lacrosse and swimming teams—the
1961 Lacrosse Team and 1961-1962
Swimming Team are both enshrined
in Pingry’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Lacrosse coach Mike Webster praised
the 1977 Boys’ Lacrosse Team for
their passion; they defeated several
Top 10 schools and finished second
in the state. Billy Cunningham ’77
spoke on behalf of his teammates.
The 1947 Golf Team
[ alumni News ]
1
2
3
4
5
PAA Golf Outing
The Pingry Alumni Association’s
annual Golf Outing was held on
June 9, 2008, at Morris County Golf
Club in Convent Station, New Jersey.
1 Tim Lear ’92 and Steve Lipper ’79.
2 Chip Carver ’77 and Anne DeLaney
’79, current Pingry parents.
3 Greg Savettiere, current Pingry
parent, and Charles Frazier, guest of
current Pingry parent Leonard Murray.
8 Sean O’Donnell ’75, right, and
his guest Richard Bartley.
9
Robert Cronheim ’06 won the
drawing for a Pingry chair.
4 Woody Weldon ’91 and Sam
Partridge ’92.
5 Kyle Coleman ’80 and Cliff Broder ’80.
6 Jonathan Shelby ’74 and Bruce
10 Deborah Reperowitz, current
Pingry parent.
6
Morrison ’64.
7 Left to right: John McLaughlin,
Miller Bugliari ’52, Headmaster Nat
Conard, and Mark McLaughlin ’83.
56
the pingry review
7
9
10
8
1
2
Senior BBQ
Seniors gathered at the headmaster’s house on June 2,
2008, for the Senior Barbecue. The Pingry Alumni
Association organized the event to honor seniors for
their accomplishments and to welcome them into the
alumni community.
1 Left to right: Caroline
Pinke ’08, Erik Moss ’08,
Scott Bissinger ’08, and
Headmaster Nat Conard
2
Faculty member Dr.
Joan Pearlman and David
Young ’08
3 Faculty member Dr.
Susan Dineen, Rocquan
Lucas ’08, and faculty
member Dean Sluyter
4
Left to right: Andrew
Cala ’08, John Guiffre ’08,
Ali Apruzzese ’08, Brittany
Waser ’08, Leslie
Springmeyer ’08, Taylor
Sankovich ’08, Danika Paulo
’08, and Lindsey Hyman ’08
5
Erik Moss ’08, Andrew
Willinger ’08, and Luke
Beshar ’08
3
4
5
57
summer /fall 2008
[ alumni News ]
Harry Allen ’82 Visits Pingry to Exhibit
His Versatile Design Concepts
work is in real life experience. This
show of my work is not meant to be
an artistic experience. It is documentation of my career.”
To appeal to students, he assembled
photographs, conceptual designs,
and sketches of interior designs for
Supreme—a skateboard apparel
store—and M•A•C Cosmetics. “In
this capacity, I’m serving M•A•C’s
needs. I’m not serving Harry Allen’s
needs. I wouldn’t create that space if
I didn’t like it, but I’m designing for
them,” he says.
“Bank in the Form of a Pig” by Harry Allen ’82
An exhibit in January and February
in the Hostetter Arts Center Gallery
by Harry Allen ’82 gave the Pingry
community insight into how he balances his career with corporate and
personal work. Harry is president and
chief designer of Harry Allen &
Associates, an award-winning consulting design firm that he founded
in 1993.
58
The Manhattan-based company’s
projects encompass industrial design,
interior design, graphic design, and
identity development for corporate
clients, some of whom are Estée
Lauder, the Guggenheim Museum,
Maybelline, the Museum of Modern
Art, Sony, Steuben Glass, and
Warner Bros. Many of Harry’s works
the pingry review
Maureen Baxley-Murray ’82 and Harry Allen ’82
have also been exhibited in museums
around the world.
While at Pingry, he developed experience in ceramics. “[Harry and I] did
pottery together. Even back then, you
could see he had amazing talents,
and he’s so personable,” says Maureen
Baxley-Murray ’82, who attended the
closing reception in Harry’s honor.
He studied political science at Alfred
University, then decided to transform
himself into a designer and earned
his Master’s degree in Industrial
Design at the Pratt Institute. At the
same time, he began working at
Prescriptives Cosmetics, a company
owned by Estée Lauder. He soon
opened his own studio and made and
sold furniture, which brought international recognition and resulted in
some of his work being exhibited at
the Museum of Modern Art.
Harry wrote a letter to Pingry students, explaining his educational
and artistic backgrounds and the
exhibit, which was available in the
gallery. In the letter, he emphasized
that he is a designer, not an artist:
“Much of the point of art is in the
viewing, in the show itself, in the
gallery experience. This does not
apply to design. The point of my
He further highlighted his corporate
portfolio by showing packaging
designs for Sonia Kashuk’s new line
of women’s fragrance bottles at
Target, a re-design of Johnson &
Johnson’s First Aid Kit, and the red
Kila Desk Lamp sold by Ikea. Three
rubber wheels, attached to legs that
form a tripod, allow the lamp to
move in circles. “I was a really avid
roller-skater for a long time, and I
wanted to do something that’s [spun]
on wheels,” Harry says.
Harry Allen ’82 and faculty member Jeanine Carr
next to the Kila Desk Lamp
The personal work revolved around
his Reality series—designs cast from
original sources, such as the small,
red “Bank in the Form of a Pig” and
“My Brother’s Frame.” “The reference
is what people are attracted to, so I
try to find things that are really easy
reads. I like to think that that idea of
reality goes through everything I do,
that you find beauty in something
that’s actually a part of the piece.
Those materials are beautiful in and
of themselves,” he says.
Harry Allen & Associates is online
at www.harryallendesign.com.
Oratorical Competition Honors
Humanitarian Dr. Robert LeBow ’58
Idaho in June 1972. Bob became the
first full-time physician and medical
director of the fledgling community
clinic that eventually became Terry
Reilly Health Services (TRHS). It
now serves over 25,000 patients, over
65 percent of whom are uninsured,
at sites throughout southwest Idaho.
Dr. Robert H. LeBow ’58
Six Pingry students delivered speeches
to a school-wide assembly in February,
competing in an event funded by
the Class of 1958: the Dr. Robert H.
LeBow ’58 Memorial Oratorical
Competition which was first held in
2006. After graduating from Pingry
50 years ago, Bob LeBow spent his
career advocating for health care
reform around the globe, and his
passion for changing public policy
sparked his interest in public speaking.
His Pingry classmates recall his
exceptional intelligence and memorization skills and three of his passions:
creating elegant, artistic maps of
countries that did not exist, building
a stamp collection that numbered in
the thousands, and riding his bike
for long distances, both nationally
and internationally in fact, he rode
more than 200,000 miles on six
continents.
He and his wife Gail and their children Teddy and Tommy moved to
The books were also sold nationally
in collaboration with an organization
of which Bob had been president for
two years, Physicians for a National
Health Program. However, the book
initially was not available in bookstores because the LeBows did not
have contacts in the New York book
publishing industry. Bob’s classmate,
Alan Hood ’58, came to the rescue.
“When I found out about Bob’s
accident, Bob had been moved to
Philadelphia, and I was shown the
book. I didn’t know he had written
a book. The book came in from
the printer, but he wasn’t able to
promote it. Being in the book
publishing industry, I volunteered
to publish it,” he says.
Bob passed away on November 29,
2003, and, since then, two annual
events have been established to
honor his legacy. One is TRHS’s Bob
LeBow Bike Tour, “Health Care for
All,” to continue funding the care
for the clinic’s uninsured patients;
the fund was started by selling Bob’s
book. The tour took place for the
sixth time in June 2008. “He wanted
The other four finalists offered
cultural critiques and inspirational
messages. Emily Xia (IV) suggested
that the perceived evils of television
and computers are overblown, noting that books were once considered
dangerous influences too. Hannah
Goldstein (V) discussed the pervasive presence of advertisements and
their strong influence on children
and teenagers. Meanwhile, Sean
Salamon (IV) cast doubt on the
lawfulness of the Boy Scouts’ exclusion of homosexuals, agnostics, and
atheists. Courtney Hulse (IV) offered an inspirational speech about
persisting in the face of setbacks.
All six finalists received Dr. LeBow’s
book on health care reform. In its
pages, they likely will find messages that resonate with them: the
value of fighting for a cause despite
setbacks, the harmful influence of
powerful corporations, and perhaps,
above all, a concern for improving
the world.
59
summer /fall 2008
From 1969 to 1971, he was a Peace
Corps physician in Bolivia, and then
he pursued his master’s degree in Public
Health at the Johns Hopkins School
of Medicine. A classmate at Johns
Hopkins told Bob about a start-up clinic in rural Idaho that served mostly
migrant farm workers. Bob embraced
the challenge of developing a comprehensive health care delivery system
for a rural, underserved population.
As an outgrowth of his advocacy for
his patients and his frustration with
the medical establishment, Bob
wrote and self-published Health Care
Meltdown: Confronting the Myths and
Fixing Our Failing System. The first
copies came back from the printer in
July 2002, one week before Bob was
in a bike accident. The books were
sold through word-of-mouth in Idaho
and the proceeds were used to start a
fund for the benefit of the uninsured
patients at TRHS.
For this year’s competition, held on
February 15, 2008, in Hauser Auditorium, both the winner, Andrew
Sartorius (V), and the runner-up,
Samuel Baron (IV), gave speeches
that defended their generation.
Andrew Sartorius argued that his
generation’s online research skills
and ability to process multiple
streams of information mean that
they will be the workers of the
future—“knowledge workers” and
“information artists” who can find
and “sculpt” information. Taking a
different approach, Samuel Baron
rejected attempts by others to label
his generation, arguing “we are yet
to define who we are.” He pointed
out that his generation has many
good qualities too, including a concern for improving the world.
[ alumni News ]
Robert Lair ’80 and Sudanese Refugees
Bring Education to Sudan
Junior Andrew Sartorius speaks at the Dr. Robert
H. LeBow ’58 Memorial Oratorical Competition
to be sure that everyone was able to
get access to the health care that
they needed regardless of their ability
to pay,” Ms. LeBow says.
The other annual event is the oratorical competition at Pingry, which
offers Pingry sophomores and juniors
the chance to give speeches that are
informative, persuasive, or inspirational—similar to Bob’s.
60
the pingry review
Bill Hetfield ’58, the class representative, was instrumental in establishing
the fund for the competition, and one
of his first ideas was to make Bob’s
book part of the presentation, so each
of the finalists receives a copy and the
winner also receives a small cash
prize. “This [competition] is reserved
for sophomores and juniors. The
objective is to empower young people.
To be good on one’s feet opens many
doors, whether they are higher education, civic endeavors such as politics,
career choice and advancement, or
social settings. Public speaking skills
are an asset that can be the difference
between success and failure in life’s
endeavors,” Bill says.
Because of the Class of 1958’s generosity in honoring their classmate,
future generations of Pingry students
will have the opportunity to develop
public speaking skills and, in turn,
continue the legacy of a treasured
member of the Pingry community.
NESEI Co-Founder Atem Deng and Robert Lair ’80 in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Uganda. The trip marked the first time Atem saw his family in over 17 years
Robert Lair ’80 realized a long-awaited dream this past May. Ever since
age 14, when he was a freshman, he
wanted to start his own school and
be a teacher—goals inspired by his
Pingry experience and his desire to
share that level of education with
others. Now, he is co-director of the
New Sudan Education Initiative
(NESEI), and he recently celebrated
the opening of a new school in
Sudan, one of several schools
planned for a country ravaged by
more than 20 years of civil war.
their background. They introduced
themselves and learned that the men
had come to the U.S. as refugees from
the Sudan Civil Wars.
“One of them, Atem Deng, said that he
hadn’t seen his mother for 16 years—
since he was six-years-old. Four months
later, we were on the plane to go find
his mother,” Robert says. He witnessed
that reunion, and Atem met his sister
for the first time; she had been a slave
in Khartoum for four years.
Robert has spent his life helping disadvantaged and displaced people in 42
countries, including India, Nepal, and
Uganda; Sudan was the most recent.
“I thought that I couldn’t be surprised
anymore by travel, but, when I went
to Sudan in 2006, just a year after the
peace agreement was signed, I was
absolutely shocked. It was like walking
on the moon, completely isolated from
the outside world,” he says.
Atem took Robert to the refugee
camps, where education is greatly
needed, and they devised a plan to
build 20 high schools by 2015 to
accommodate 20,000 Sudanese students. These schools will be self-sufficient via fees and built-in incomegenerating projects; students and
other local people will sell the surplus of food from a 200-acre farm
and sell unused cement blocks that
are built for construction.
Seven years ago, he and his wife,
an anthropologist, saw a group of
Sudanese refugees sitting on a porch
in Vermont and wanted to know
“Sudanese are very interested in selfsufficiency. They’ve been relying on
outside aid for 22 years and they don’t
want that [to be the case],” Robert says.
The first school’s location, outside Yei
in Southern Sudan, was chosen for its
increased security and proximity to
the Ugandan border, making it easier
for the school to receive supplies, and
the school is on one of the main refugee routes. Seventeen chiefs of Lainya
County facilitated the process by providing 55 acres of land for free, and
then adding seven square miles for
farming.
Robert and Atem founded NESEI in
2006 as a partnership between the
Sudanese and an international network of supporters. Robert is co-director with another refugee, Abraham
Awolich, and the group wants to give
more students access to education and
bring peace to the region. Last May,
the World Bank recognized NESEI
in its Development Marketplace
Competition, an annual contest for
emerging nonprofit organizations
around the world. It is a search for
social businesses—those organizations
with social missions that are selfsustaining; NESEI was one of 22
winners from an original pool of
3,000 applications.
Robert emphasizes that NESEI has
been a collaboration since its inception. “It’s not like the American saving the day in Sudan. It’s about
Sudanese students in their new classroom
Sudanese, who came here as refugees,
working side by side with Americans.
Our board is divided between
Sudanese and Americans, and our
implementation in Sudan is divided
between Sudanese and Americans.
It’s about Africans helping Africans.
Abraham went over there, opened all
the doors, and made it work,” he says.
Robert’s decision to focus his career
on helping international communities
was inspired at Colgate University,
when a representative spoke about her
work with Mother Teresa’s organization in Calcutta. Robert visited
Calcutta three months later and
In 1998, he joined Saint Michael’s
College as an adjunct professor of
religious studies and wanted to bring
some of his students to countries
where he had direct experience with
extreme poverty. “I was in the classroom and feeling like the walls were
caving in on me because I was trying
to explain it to them in words—but I
wanted to show it to them. To actually
see it, that’s the key,” he says.
Reflecting on those overseas trips
with students from other schools,
Robert would like to do something
similar at Pingry. “I have a dream to
create a sister high school with Pingry.
The Sudanese refugees would come
down to Pingry and participate in
classes, and students can go over to
Sudan and have a relationship with
Sudanese high school students.”
Now that the first school has opened,
he is continuing his international
relief work to implement NESEI’s goals
for the remaining schools. In that way,
Pingry is part of Sudan—the students’
new classrooms partially owe their
existence to Robert’s alma mater
inspiring him to spread education
around the globe. Robert can be
reached at robert.nesei@gmail.com.
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summer /fall 2008
Robert Lair ’80 meets students at the opening ceremony of the new school in Sudan
stayed for a year to collaborate with
the organization and observe Mother
Teresa’s daily work.
[ alumni News ]
Fiction Writers
Share Advice
with the Next
Generation
Dani Shapiro ’80 and Rick Reiken
’84 returned to Pingry in April 2008
to participate in the 12th annual
Justin Society Creative Writing
Festival, named for Justin Ring ’94,
to encourage creative writing and its
appreciation at Pingry. Dani and
Rick read some of their fiction,
answered Upper School students’
questions about the writing process,
and led writing workshops.
what it meant than just that it be
beautiful.”
For his part, Rick considers his evolution more general. “The more I
evolve as a writer, the more I’m starting to see what it is that I have to
say. It’s not that I necessarily know
going in what I have to say. I just
know it when I see it,” he says.
Dani Shapiro ’80 (photo by Miki Duisterhof )
Dani’s books have been translated
into eight languages. Recent books
include Black & White (2007), Family
History (2003), now in its 7th printing, and the best-selling memoir Slow
Motion. Actress Christina Ricci is
adapting Black & White as a film in
which she plans to star, and Ricci
plans to direct. Dani’s short stories
and essays have been published by
such magazines as The New Yorker
and Oprah. She is a visiting writer at
Wesleyan University and contributing editor at Travel + Leisure.
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the pingry review
Rick, an associate professor of writing
and literature at Emerson College,
among other teaching credits, has
published two novels. The Odd Sea
(1998) won the Hackney Literary
Award for a first novel and has
received other honors. The Lost
Legends of New Jersey (2000) was
highlighted by The New York Times
as a “Notable Book” and praised as
“Best Book of 2000” by both the Los
Angeles Times and The Christian
Science Monitor. His short stories and
essays have appeared in various publications including The New Yorker,
Glimmer Train, and The Writer’s
Chronicle.
Both alumni credit their English
teachers for inspiring their love of
literature, and both mention English
teacher Peter Cowen ’66, whose poetry class exposed Rick to creative
During the few hours that Dani and
Rick spent with the students, they
gave advice about writing fiction,
revealing how they choose character
names and plots and discussing the
elements that they think make for
an effective ending. It was a recent
example of alumni providing personto-person guidance for those who
may soon follow in their footsteps.
Sarah Filipski ’05
Provides Medical
Help in Kenya
By Sarah Filipski
Rick Reiken ’84 (photo by Cailin Reiken)
writing. “It felt like . . . some boundaries were being broken open around
things like self-expression. It was the
first time I was encouraged not to
just memorize a form and regurgitate
it. It was the first time I was encouraged to actually be creative,” he says.
As Rick and Dani continue to hone
their skills, they reflect about how
their writing styles have changed
over the years. “I have increasingly
become aware of wanting to use
fewer words,” Dani says. “When I
look at my first novel, three similes
were better than one. I have a background as a pianist, and I think I fell
in love with the musicality of language. If I could make a sentence
beautiful, I was less concerned about
Davidson College is acclaimed for its
community service trips, including
college-sponsored trips led by the
Chaplain and Dean Rusk
International Studies Program. The
premedical program also organizes
two trips for students to become
more involved in international
medicine.
This year, for the ninth consecutive
summer, students joined biology professor Dr. Verna Case in Zambia or
biology professor Dr. Jerry Putnam in
Kenya to assist doctors in their
expanding medical facilities.
Through an extensive application
process, I was selected—along with
eight other Davidson students—to
join Dr. Putnam’s group in Kenya for
a month starting in mid-May 2008.
Throughout our spring semester, we
extensively researched an assigned
disease with the hopes of applying
our new-found knowledge to actual
cases we saw in Kenya. My focus was
on malaria—a disease responsible for
Michaela MurrayNolan ’98 Makes
Children’s
Aspirations
Her Priority
By Michaela Murray-Nolan
“There is no use trying,” said Alice.
“One cannot believe impossible things.”
“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was
your age, I always did it for half an
hour each day. Why, sometimes I’ve
believed as many as six impossible
things before breakfast!”
Sarah Filipski ’05, second from left, after a long morning of surgery in Nazareth Hospital. To her left is
Dr. Mwangi, the hospital’s head surgeon
killing two people every minute—
making it one of the fastest-spreading
diseases in Africa in addition to
AIDS.
Our group had the opportunity to
work in two hospitals, the
Presbyterian Church East Africa
(PCEA) Kikuyu Hospital and
Nazareth Hospital, both outside of
Nairobi. During our rotations at the
Kikuyu hospital, we had the opportunity to assist in surgeries ranging
from orthopedics to eye removals,
and, if we were really brave, delivering babies.
Unfortunately, we witnessed the firsthand severity of the disease, because
one of the patients passed away
before we arrived at her bed. Along
with an impressive HIV/AIDS clinic,
the hospital boasted a busy surgical
schedule with Cesarean sections,
hernias, and lymphomas.
At the end of a long week at work,
we looked forward to weekends in
Although the predominant purpose
of our trip was to assist Kenyan doctors and deepen our understanding of
medicine, we also had the opportunity to work with children at orphanages that were founded by our host
family. This trip, along with the
Zambia program, provided Davidson
students with a unique experience
of extensive hands-on training and
the opportunity to help in the medical battle to control the spread of
malaria and AIDS.
My life is all about believing in
impossible dreams. I run Kids
Corporation, one of Newark’s oldest
and largest non-profits for children,
so “impossible” is a word I hear constantly. It’s impossible to make a dent
in such a big city. It’s impossible to
solve the childhood healthcare crisis.
It’s impossible to compete with the
lure of gangs. It’s impossible to teach
an illiterate seventh-grade student
to read. It’s impossible to expect my
students will go to college. It’s impossible to get most New Jerseyans interested in Newark.
Kids Corporation’s mission is to
improve the lives of Newark children
through programs and services that
63
summer /fall 2008
Our focus shifted when we worked
at the Nazareth hospital, an AIDS
treatment center. We accompanied
doctors on medical rounds as they
assisted patients who were coping
with the realization that they had
AIDS.
Amboseli, the Masai Mara, and the
Rift Valley, huge tourist attractions
for safaris. When in Africa, you have
to see some lions and zebras—Kenya
is a spectacularly beautiful country,
and my photography training with
Mr. Boyd and Mrs. Stockwell came
in handy.
- Lewis Carroll
My Pingry education instilled in me
an interest in serving my community,
especially through my tutoring experiences at ECLC and Suburban
Cultural Educational Enrichment
Program (SCEEP). And that community—I’ve come to realize after my
Africa trip—is a global one.
Michaela Murray-Nolan ’98
[ alumni News ]
bolster academic skills, promote
healthy development, and stimulate
a love of learning. Founded in 1971,
our goal is to increase children’s
readiness for school, academic success, and personal growth. We operate summer and after-school educational programs and provide books,
clothing, healthcare, school supplies,
and field trips to over 4,500 children
ages 5 to 12 at over 60 Newark
schools, community, and faith-based
partner programs each year.
In the midst of running an organization of such impossibly lofty goals,
I schedule time to visit one of our
school programs almost every day. I
love to spend time with some of our
4,500 students, who are filled with
hopes and dreams and plans, because
no one has told them that they are
supposed to be doomed. They do
not yet know that because they were
born in Newark, and not eight miles
away in Short Hills, they are not
expected to go to college, have a
career, and make something important of themselves.
64
the pingry review
So, my kids will pile onto my lap for
story time, or ask me to proofread
their high school application essays,
or ask me to explain long division.
Along the way, I learn who wants
to be a lawyer, an author, a cop, or
a baker—and, in their innocent
excitement, I see nothing but endless
possibilities. They need real education, proper healthcare, and supportive role models, but they have beautiful dreams that can and deserve to
be fulfilled.
Through twists of fate and fortune,
I find myself in the most exciting
and rewarding job I can imagine:
responsible for educating thousands
of children and keeping them
healthy, overseeing a six million
dollar capital campaign at Kids
Camp, and forging new partnerships
that will bring some of my brightest
students to Pingry in the next few
years. The training that I received
during my five years at Pingry helps
me every day. Al Romano’s and
Trisha Wheeler’s acting classes get
me through speeches in front of
hundreds; Tom Keating’s and Dean
Sluyter’s writing lessons come in
handy for 50-page grant proposals;
John Raby’s history classes help me
tell a great story.
It is precisely the high quality of my
Pingry education that elucidates for
me the very poor quality of schooling in Newark. Every one of my
students deserves the educational
opportunities I was given, and my
impossible dream is that, by spending my life in Newark, we can progress a little closer toward eradicating
this disparity.
Sarah SaxtonFrump ’03 Raises
the Standards in
Her Classroom
By Sarah Saxton-Frump
I teach in Brownsville, Texas, the
poorest city in the country, as a
member of Teach for America (TFA),
a non-profit organization dedicated
to closing the achievement gap in
education between the academic
performances of wealthy and poor
students across the country. This
gap is the product of a broken public
education system that perpetuates
the gap that poor children face by
the time they enter Kindergarten.
TFA recruits mostly young college
graduates who have excelled in leadership positions on their campuses.
TFA embodies an idea called
“Teaching as Leadership,” which
believes that the leadership skills
required for success in areas like business, student government, and community service are the skills that will
make someone an excellent teacher.
Once accepted into the program,
which requires a two-year commitment, you are assigned to one of
almost 30 regions in the country
Sarah Saxton-Frump ’03, Brown University ’07,
teaches world geography in Brownsville, Texas
where TFA has partnerships with
local school districts.
As an example of the challenges I
face, I taught my ninth-grade students a unit on Asia in February and
March. Thinking I should assess
their prior knowledge about the otherwise unfamiliar region of Asia, I
asked, “Who knows what the largest
mountain chain in the world is
called?” Silence. “Who has heard of
the Himalaya Mountains?” Silence.
These moments are regrettably common in my classroom. The 143 students I teach are the products of the
achievement gap in this country’s
public education system. Of the 13
million students growing up in poverty, half of them will graduate from
high school. Those who do graduate
will perform, on average, at an
eighth-grade level. Their peers in
higher-income communities perform
at a twelfth-grade level.
I thought all students were held to
the same high educational and moral
standards that Pingry instilled in me,
but I was wrong. However, Pingry—
without intending to—taught me
how to be a good teacher. My teachers were passionate about what they
taught. They expected us to take
ownership of our education, but they
also showed us how to be responsible.
They were kind without being permissive; they were thought-provoking
rather than rote educators. All students at Pingry are expected to act
ethically and honorably, so we did.
We were expected to be intelligent,
capable of critical thought, and
thoughtful, so we tried to be.
It turns out that, rich or poor, black
or white, Hispanic, fluent in English
or struggling to write a sentence, all
students are the same at their core:
they all excel when held to a high
standard. This is why Pingry students
take their gifts and shine, rather
than slipping into the shadows. It is
why my students perform best when
I ask them to evaluate the Kyoto
Protocol or analyze the IsraeliPalestine conflict, not when I ask
them to regurgitate information.
Richard West ’49
Teaches Chinese
Students to Speak
English
By Richard West
For the past three years, I have been
teaching conversational English at
SIAS International University in
Singing is a great idea. It is memorable, uses both sides of the brain, and,
every time the tune runs through a
person’s head, he or she is thinking
in English. It is also a great way to
create unity among the students.
Richard West ’49
Henan Province, the largest province
in China. The experience was a
dream-come-true because I have
wanted to visit China since 1971.
During the years when I used my
architecture and planning training
to help in Haiti, I observed a lack
of confidence in developing nations.
They do not realize how far they
have come and how much they can
do until someone from outside tells
them, so I want to help China reach
its ancient dreams of world leadership
and global trade.
When my dream came true, I began
a delightful, but arduous, routine. It
included 18 classroom hours each
week teaching English conversation
to Chinese students ages 16-23. I
taught teachers several times, and,
for five weeks during winter vacation,
I taught ages 6-12.
The students’ enthusiasm had me
bouncing around the room with
energy, not fatigue. I lectured on
American culture, the impact of
Western culture on Asia, and China’s
transformation, and we visited cities,
villages, and parks. I did not learn
much Chinese because the students
wanted to practice their English—I
was paid to speak English, and the
regimen left little time to spare.
The teaching methods in China are
different than the small group, interactive process I enjoyed at Pingry.
Classes in China are as large as
120 and seldom fewer than 40, from
primary school to university. Large
classes mean that every class has
to be in lecture format. For oral
English classes, we split the classes
into two or three sections to make
them manageable.
There is no opportunity to gather
around a table to discuss Shakespeare
with someone like Cas France, my
Pingry English teacher. Opportunities
for teachers to share not only information, but also part of themselves,
are rare. This may hinder their most
important role, communicating
Chinese culture to the next generation in the face of a tsunami of
Western culture sweeping the land.
Yet, somehow, the best teachers build
a relationship that changes lives, just
like ours were changed at Pingry.
After three years of teaching, I am
returning to my business career to
build bridges of culture and commerce between China and America.
I have found that when you leave
your comfort zone, your eyes are
opened to the world around you in
new ways. And maybe I can even
learn to converse in Chinese.
65
summer /fall 2008
Pingry gave me a model of an excellent education as well as a model for
service to the community. I have
taken this commitment to service
with me to college and out into the
“real world.” It is what drove me to
choose Teach for America and what
drives me to persevere on my worst
days in the classroom. Because the
day my students explain how the
Himalayas block cultural diffusion
and hinder the spread of Buddhism
to China will be the day I have faith
that my students will graduate having performed at the same level as
Pingry students. It’s the day when I
will remember that a Newark ZIP
code or a Far Hills ZIP code is not
destiny for our nation’s children.
According to McKinsey research, conversation is one of the most needed
and least taught skills in China today.
Yet, few teachers followed my example
because it is a challenge to observe
and grade three to four students at
one time. I developed a form to assess
14 skills—the students became quite
involved, forgot themselves, and started thinking in English.
Ask the Archivist
1
“Halsey Day”
66
the pingry review
Fleet Admiral William F.
Halsey Jr., Class of 1900 and
Letter-in-Life recipient in 1943,
returned to Pingry on November 7, 1945, hailed as a hero
after World War II. The visit
was part of a tour through his
hometown of Elizabeth on
“Halsey Day.” Can you help
us identify the students in this
photo? If you know any of
the individuals, please email
Greg Waxberg ’96 at
gwaxberg@pingry.org.
2
3
7
5
4
6
Identifying The Buttondowns
Thanks to the following alumni
for contacting us about the
picture on page 40, “Early photo
of The Buttondowns,” in the
Winter 2008 edition of The
Pingry Review:
Stew Brown ’58
Bruce Gallit ’58
Gregory McNab ’58
Terry Ackerman ’59
Bruce Buck ’59
Kurt Christensen ’59
John Connor ’59
Stone Coxhead ’59
Richard duBusc ’59
Charlie Ffolliott ’59
Kelley Hale ’59
Walter Hunt Jr. ’59
Jim Ludlow ’59
Dick Mitchell ’59
Bill Montfort ’59
Dan Phillips ’59
1
2
3
4
Joe Sichler ’59
Norman Smith ’59
Terry Smith ’59
Mike Taranto ’59
Wes Ackley ’60
John Collins ’60
Dave Speno ’60
Don West ’60
Peter Wiley ’60
Mike Wyman ’60
Peter Delfausse ’61
Gordon Sulcer ’61
Bill Lycan ’62
Roger Lathbury ’63
Geoffrey Connor ’64
5
6
7
8
10
9
11
13
12
The Buttondowns
1. Robert Cubbage ’58
2. Harvey Molé III ’60
3. John Connor, Jr. ’59
4. Arthur “Terry” Ackerman ’59
5. Richard Mitchell ’59
6. Charles Ffolliott ’59
7. James Ludlow II ’59
8. Daniel Phillips, Jr. ’59
9. John Collins ’60
10. Charles Bickford ’59
11. William Montfort ’59
12. Donald West ’60
13. Tony duBourg
Class Notes
year
1953 reunion
Bob O’Brien is the President
of the New Jersey Museum
of Boating in Point Pleasant,
N.J., and is planning a major
move for the museum to
Mantoloking in 2009.
1957
James Urner has been
reelected councilman in Bay
Head, N.J. He has served on
the Council for the last three
years. In addition, he has
been elected Commodore of
the Bay Head Yacht Club.
He has been involved with
the club his entire life and
has served on many committees dealing mostly with
sailing and sailboat racing.
1962
1959
Dan Phillips writes, “Since my
wife Jane has had an interim
position at Kent Place, I have
had the opportunity to visit
Pingry several times this past
year. I am thoroughly enjoying retirement and being
a full-time grandfather. I
am looking forward to our
50th reunion next year.”
1965
John Cali, who played soccer for Miller Bugliari ’52
on Pingry’s 1964 undefeated State and County
Championship team, is now
a State Champion once
again—this time as coach of
Newark Academy’s varsity
boys’ soccer team. Newark
Left to right: John Scully, Miller Bugliari ’52, and James
Newhouse ’95 at a San Francisco Giants baseball game
Academy had a tremendous
2007 season, beating prep
rival Gill St. Bernard’s for
the sectional championship
and then winning its first
Non-Public Group “B” State
Championship. In recognition
of his success, John Cali was
named Boys Soccer Coach of
the Year by The Star-Ledger for
the 2007 season. He says that
his own coaching has been
greatly influenced by Miller
Bugliari. “I have stayed in
touch with Miller through 15
years of coaching high school
soccer and have received a lot
of good advice from him. He
was a great role model for me
in the ’60s and I still consider
him my mentor,” John says.
1969
The Rev. Bruce Smith is in his
eighth year as Associate Rector
at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
in Columbus, Ohio. Bruce also
serves as Vice-President of the
Interfaith Center for Peace
in Columbus and as Chair of
the Central Ohio Advisory
Board of Episcopal Retirement
Homes, Inc. Bruce was elected
last year to a three-year term
on the Diocesan Council
of the Episcopal Diocese of
Southern Ohio and serves
on the Budget Committee of
the Diocese. He continues his
ministry with the Diocesan
Stewardship Committee.
Bruce’s wife, the Rev. Dr.
Susan Warrener Smith, is a
Presbyterian pastor. The Smiths
have three grown children
and three grandchildren.
1972
Joseph Costabile returned to
the sandbox in early 2008 in
support of Operation Iraqi
Freedom with the 1st Medical
Battalion. His unit erected and
prepared a mobile hospital at
a combat outpost, and they
have been working with doctors, nurses, corpsmen, and
Marines to treat and evacuate
service members. He writes,
“Morale remains high and our
unit continues to exhibit great
professionalism and esprit de
corps, as do the Marines we
are here with. I am proud to
be with them and proud to
serve our great country.”
year
1973 reunion
Charles Cuttic writes, “Thanks
to Sandy White for his hospitality in hosting the 35th
reunion party. A splendid
time was guaranteed for all,
and [it was] wonderful to see
everyone. Truly invigorating.”
1975
Peter Hiscano writes that
“[o]n December 21, 2007, 13
members of classes from the
1970s got together for the
annual dinner with Coach
Miller Bugliari ’52, at the
Morris County Country Club,
to trade soccer stories [from]
on the field and off. The
evening was capped off by a
soccer video and slide show of
several games from the 1970s.”
67
summer /fall 2008
1975
1963
Left to right: Jack Laporte, Bob Mayer, Miller Bugliari ’52, and
Chris Bartlett ’79 playing golf at Caves Country Club in Baltimore
Left to right, 1st row: Jonathan Shelby ’74, Frank DeLaney ’77,
Sean O’Donnell, Miller Bugliari ’52; 2nd row: Philip Haselton ’77,
Martin O’Connor ’77, Doug Hiscano ’77, Charles Louria ’77, Guy Cipriano ’74,
Chip Carver ’77, Charles Stillitano ’77, Peter Hiscano, James Baxley, and
John Boozan
1986
On the weekend of October 12, 2007, seven members of the classes of 1975
and 1976 got together for their annual “Bachelor Weekend” at Peter Hiscano’s summer house. Peter writes, “Thirty years seemed to melt away as the
guys enjoyed a weekend of jeep rides and cliff jumping.” Pictured here, first
row, left to right: Doug Martin ’76, Tom Ward ’76, and Peter Hiscano.
Second row, left to right: Rick Bosland ’76, Ken Robson ’76, Connor
Seabrook ’76, and Richard McGeehan ’76
year
1978 reunion
Michelle Brot writes, “I still
enjoy living in Seattle with
my husband Doug and two
boys. I am a neuroscientist at
a company that does pharmaceutical research to develop
drugs for brain disorders.
Sorry I had to miss our class
reunion, but please get in
touch if you’re in Seattle.”
1980
68
the pingry review
Lynn (Apruzzese) Tetrault
writes, “I am now Executive
Vice President of Corporate
Affairs and Human Resources
for AstraZeneca PLC, a large
pharmaceutical company
headquartered in London. We
have lived in London for the
past four years, but are returning to the U.S. (Malvern,
PA) this summer and I will
continue in my role making
frequent trips to London. Our
sons Ross and Ryan, age 13,
will return to the Haverford
School and we look forward
to being back in the U.S.!
1985
Denise Lionetti writes, “living and teaching Spanish at a
small private school on Maui
for the past 10 years has been
paradise. At the same time,
ever since I spent a summer
in Spain after my 10th grade
year, a certain wanderlust has
had its grip on me—one so
strong that neither the cultural richness of Bahía, Brasil,
nor the beauty and serenity
of Maui could tame it. Last
year, propelled by a desire to
brush up on my Italian (hard
to believe it had been 16
years since I had last lived in
Florence), and excited to live
in a city where Cuban salsa
(my passion) has a huge community, I set off for Rome.
What an experience! (I wish
I had read Eat, Pray, Love
before going! I might not have
felt so guilty about all of the
gelato I ate!) I’m now back on
Maui, so, if anyone is coming
here for vacation, get my number from the alumni office!”
WEDDINGS
In January 2008, Beatrix
von Watzdorf married Brian
Grzelkowski in Bucks County,
Pennsylvania. Susan Kassouf
and Stephanie Rosenbaum
attended the event. Bea and
Brian live in Washington,
D.C., where Bea has a private
psychotherapy practice specializing in Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder and Brian
works for the humanitarian
aid agency Mercy Corps.
Jessica Freedman, M.D.,
writes, “After almost nine
years on the emergency
medicine faculty at the Mount
Sinai School of Medicine in
New York, I have launched a
medical school, residency, and
fellowship admissions consulting business: www.MedEdits.
com. I am also practicing
emergency medicine in the
community and live in Bergen
County, N.J. with my husband and two daughters, ages
four and two-and-a-half.”
year
1988 reunion
Emmy (Rollenhagen)
Hamilton writes, “After 2.5
years living in Benson, Vt., my
husband Quin and I packed
up Charlie (1) and our dog
Sammy and headed back to
Nantucket! We are both back
at jobs we had prior to our
move to Vermont—me at
Nantucket Bank as their Loan
Operations Officer and Quin
at Nantucket Airport as an
Airport Firefighter. Everyone
said we’d come back—there
is an unexplainable hold
the island has on those that
live here! All Rollenhagens
are doing well and were
together for Christmas. All
the best to everyone for a
healthy and happy 2008!”
Ravi Jhaveri writes, “We had
a great time at the 20-year
reunion this year. Our kids
Malini, who is 3 1/2, and
Rajan, who just turned
one, enjoyed time with
the grandparents while we
caught up with old friends.
I look forward to the 25th.”
in honor of Brady Quinn—my
husband is a fully insane Notre
Dame fan. We’re getting him
therapy any day now (especially after this season).”
Jody (Goldberg) Seibert writes,
“We are happy to announce
that our daughter Gabrielle
Grace was born on May 19,
2007. Gabrielle joins big sisters Livia (7) and Avery (5).”
John Barefoot is happy to
announce the birth of Will
Barefoot on May 8, 2008.
1989
Diana “Dodie” Port Baker
writes, “I am living in San
Anselmo, California, with my
husband John Baker and have
two children—Billy, 3, and
Lane, who is 10 months.”
BIRTHS
Chandra F. (Cain) Davis and
her husband George are proud
to announce the birth of their
first child Carter Cain Davis
on May 19, 2007. Carter has
already been introduced to
his Pingry family by visiting
with his aunts—Michelle
(Jarney) Jacobs, Heather
(Stier) Leibowitz, Katie
(Bartlett) Schneider, Catherine
(Kolacy) Becker, and Tanya
(Fickenscher) Leonard—and
by visiting the Martinsville
Campus. Chandra is
an attorney in Atlanta,
GA with the law firm of
McGuireWoods LLP.
BIRTHS
Kay (Goree) Doyle writes, “I am
pleased to announce the birth
of my daughter Shannon Quinn
Doyle on April 3, 2007, and
would like to note that, like her
big brother Jack (born March
2004), Shannon brought the
Red Sox a World Series victory.
For you Notre Dame fans out
there, yes, my poor little girl’s
middle name was given to her
Carter Cain Davis
1990
Day Rosenberg, director of
the Upper School for the Far
Hills Country Day School,
reports that he has won an
Aspiring School Heads fellowship with the National
Association of Independent
Schools. Fellows are assigned
a mentor and a school project
and learn to develop their
own leadership style. As a
fellow, Day also attended
a culminating experience
in July 2008 at The School
Leadership Institute at the
Emory Conference Center
in Atlanta, Georgia.
1991
Joe Lucas writes that he has
been living in Los Angeles
for 11 years and still loves it.
“I started my own interior
design firm over two years
ago and all is well. If anyone
needs their house redone,
give a call!” Joe’s web site is
www.LucasStudioInc.com.
Jonathan Siegelbaum writes,
“I’m a lawyer at the U.S.
Department of the Treasury
in Washington, D.C., where
I work on matters related to
the Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United
States. I live in Bethesda,
Md., with my wife Elizabeth,
my daughter Ava, who is
four-and-a-half, and my
son Elliot, who is two.”
BIRTHS
Sandra Lee writes, “Greetings
from San Francisco. James
and I are proud to let you
know that we became parents. Winnie Nicole Chun
was born at 12:11 a.m. on
November 29, 2007. She
weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces
and was 18 inches long.”
year
1993 reunion
Steve Kwei writes, “I can’t
believe that it’s been 10 years
since I left New Jersey and
moved to California. I married
the love of my life Suzanna
Huang on August 6, 2006, at
the Ritz-Carlton Huntington
in Pasadena, California.
We gave birth to our baby
girl Chloe on December 12,
2007. After graduating from
Rutgers University in 1998
with a B.S. in Finance, I
worked for JP Morgan Chase,
Citigroup, and GE Capital
in San Francisco and Los
Angeles. I currently head up
Merrill Lynch’s Structured
Lending Group in Southern
California. Maybe I’ll have a
chance to move back to the
Tri-State area in a few years.”
BIRTHS
Winnie Nicole Chun
Cort Corbin and his wife
Isabel are happy to announce
the birth of their daughter
Chloe on January 5, 2008.
Chloe joins her big sister
Aiden. The Corbin family
lives in Gladstone, N.J.
1992
BIRTHS
Tim Lear and his wife Ellie
announce the birth of their
son James Frederick Lear, born
on June 20, 2008. He weighed
7 pounds, 8 ounces, an ounce
more than his big sister Hyla
Marie, who is 19-months-old.
Kristin Sostowski and her
husband Steve Herbes recently
welcomed their second child
Madeline Jane Sostowski
Herbes. Madeline was born
on October 9, 2007, and
weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces
and measured 21.5 inches.
She joins big sister Catherine,
who turned three-years-old
in January 2008. Kristin
continues to practice law at
Gibbons P.C. in Newark, N.J.,
where her practice focuses
on counseling companies on
labor and employment issues
and representing management
in employment litigation.
Heather (Smith) Steinman
writes, “I am proud to
announce the arrival of our
second son Ryan Wesley
Steinman, born on March 14,
2008. He joins his big brother
RT, who is two-years-old.”
Jane (Shivers) and Christian
Hoffman welcomed their
first child Avery Jane on
February 8, 2008. They are
living in Westfield, N.J., and
enjoying being parents.
Avery Jane Hoffman
1995
WEDDINGS
Memorial Day Weekend
2008 was memorable for
more than just the great
weather. On June 1, 2008,
Paru Patrawalla wed Steve
Bocchichio overlooking the
banks of the Hudson River,
with boats in the background
and helicopters overhead.
The two met in Rhode Island
five years ago and now live
in New York City. Among
the many family and friends
present were Owen Lefkon,
Anjali Mullick, Apu Mullick
’93, Anand Swaminathan,
and Chris Williamson.
BIRTHS
John Flack’s 30th birthday
present came a day early. John
and his wife Amy had a
baby boy, Thomas Joseph,
on November 13, 2007. He
weighed 7.7 pounds and
was 20.5 inches long.
1994
BIRTHS
Blythe Henwood Harris, Jill
Griffinger Herbert, and Mara Baydin
Kanner
James Frederick Lear
Duncan Hughes and his wife
welcomed their first child,
a baby boy, on January 21,
2008. Duncan reports that
Camden Easton Hughes
weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces,
was 21 inches long, and is
“a beautiful, healthy baby.”
Thomas Joseph Flack at five months
69
summer /fall 2008
Blythe (Henwood) Harris,
Jill (Griffinger) Herbert,
and Mara (Baydin) Kanner
attended Blythe’s baby shower
in Manhattan in June 2008.
Blythe and Mara are expecting their first children in
late summer, and Jill’s second baby girl Emily Evans
Herbert was born on June 6,
2008. Blythe, Jill, and Mara
recently spent a fun weekend
in Washington, D.C., with
classmates Beth Blanchard
Field and Alex Walsh O’Brien.
Everyone is doing well.
Jon Bowden writes, “My
feature film The Full Picture
premiered at the Rhode
Island International Film
Festival in August 2008. For
more information: www.
thefullpicturemovie.com.
1995
Audrey (Wu) Clark ’98, Michael Wu ’96, Vanessa Wong, and
Connie (Wu) Cheng ’93 gathered during the 2007 Christmas
holiday in Las Vegas, Nevada
70
Drew Pinkin and his wife
Caroline welcomed their
daughter Reed McNeil on
November 17, 2007. Reed
weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces. The couple met in business
school at Darden (UVA)
and recently moved into
their home in Towson, Md.
1997
Pritam Dutta and Nora Dutta
would like to announce the
birth of their first child Kirin
James Dutta. Kirin was born
on November 9, 2007. He
weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces,
and measured 20 inches. Both
mother and son are doing fine.
Emily Haverstick married Tyler Umbdenstock
on January 12, 2008, at the
Caneel Bay hotel on the
island of St. John in the
United States Virgin Islands.
1996
Michael Ames has returned
to Ketchum, Idaho, and is
working as the editor of the
Sun Valley Guide magazine.
the pingry review
Greg Waxberg is a writer for
Pingry’s Communications
Department at the
Martinsville Campus. As a
freelance writer, he continues to write feature articles
for magazines and program
notes for the Mississippi
Symphony Orchestra and
opera companies. He and
his fiancée HeatherAnn
Pukel are engaged to be
married in October 2008.
BIRTHS
Chris Franklin and his wife
Maggie announce the birth of
their daughter Lynda Elizabeth
on Christmas morning,
weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces.
“Libby” can’t wait to attend
her first Pingry Jersey Shore
Party this summer and join the
Women’s Glee Club in 2022.
Corey Simonson and Emily
Armstrong were married on
August 16, 2008, in Woods
Hole, MA. They met as classmates at Amherst College.
WEDDINGS
year
1998 reunion
Chris Hampson writes, “I
am enjoying my life trading
commodities infinitely more
than had I pursued a career
with my J.D. I just completed a snowboarding trip
to Zermatt, which included
visits to Hamburg and Zurich
to see my clients at some of
the world’s biggest coffee
companies. While visiting
them I was fortunate to be
taken to the Swiss hockey
league playoffs, as well as some
fantastic restaurants in both
cities. Next up is a trip to
Colombia to visit more clients
and search for new waves.
While in Barbados on another
surfing trip, I happened
to be staying in the same
Top row, from left: Richard duBusc ’59, Lauren Reid ’99, Samuel Haverstick
’00, James Fraser, Peter duBusc ’00, Corey Simonson, Lynsey Ward, Donald
Tansey ’00, and Lauren Koeneke. Middle row, from left: Alexa Reisler ’02, Jamie
Shapiro, David Bugliari, Kelsey Umbdenstock ’00, Tyler Umbdenstock (groom),
Emily (Haverstick) Umbdenstock (bride), Haley (Joel) Satnick, Julie Hagmann,
Melissa Blatt, Jennifer Joel ’94, and Robert Magrane ’05. Front row, from left:
Richard Myers ’00, Gregory Stevens, Ken Wilson, Genevieve Haverstick ’07,
Nicholas Ross, and Miller Bugliari ’52
Bed & Breakfast as another
Pingry alumnus, Dudley
[Ryan ’83]. Small world.”
1999
Ronald Pack, Jr. has been
promoted to Manager, eBusiness Development, Financial
Institutions Group of the
American Express Bank Ltd.
Currently residing in New
York, Ron has been busy traveling throughout the country.
WEDDINGS
Lauren Pellino married Andy
Rodriguez on June 30, 2007,
at St. Helen’s Church in
Westfield, N.J. Lauren and
Andy met at Governor’s
School on the Environment in
the summer of 1998. Lauren
is a graduate of Princeton
University with a B.A. in
psychology. Andy received
his B.E. in chemical engineering and B.S. in mathematics
from Stevens Institute of
Technology and received his
M.S. in biomedical engineering from Columbia University.
Following a honeymoon in
the Caribbean, the couple
returned home to Piscataway,
N.J., where they are in their
final year at Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School.
Reception at the Maplewood Country Club. Left to right: Shermona Mapp,
Michelle Salerno, Sra. Sue Ortner, Lauren, Andy, matron of honor Ellen
(Pellino) Gittes ’97, groomsman Adam Gittes ’97, Daniel Gittes ’00, Laura
Bellrose ’99, and Joseph Romanides ’01
2000
Ben Golden and Molly Cahill
are engaged to be married next
year in Philadelphia. Molly
and Ben met while attending
Ben’s 22nd birthday party at
the University of Pennsylvania
and became engaged during
Ben’s 26th birthday party
surrounded by all of their
friends. Molly and Ben live
in New York where Molly
is a candidate for a Ph.D. in
Neuroscience at NYU and
Ben is an associate in the
Equity Derivatives department
at Bank of America Securities.
2001
Catherine Pack has completed
the JP Morgan Investment
Bank Global Investment
Banking Analyst Training
Program. She is an analyst
in their Higher Education/
Non-Profit Finance Group.
Catherine is currently
residing in New York.
Andrew Horowitz is a fulltime member of the rock band
Tally Hall, which has a multialbum recording contract with
Atlantic Records. Andrew
wrote the song “The Whole
World and You” that the
band performs in a commercial for Crayola 3D Sidewalk
Chalk and Paint. The song is
from their album “Marvin’s
Marvelous Mechanical
Museum,” released on April
1, 2008. The band will be
touring the country this fall.
year
2003 reunion
Rachel Askin recently took a
position with the Sacramento
Monarchs of the WNBA,
as the Media Relations and
Marketing Coordinator for
Monarchs’ owner Maloof
Sports and Entertainment in
Sacramento, Calif. Following
her graduation from the
University of Rochester in
2007, Rachel spent a year as
the Athletic Media Relations
Assistant Director for West
Texas A&M University in
Canyon, Texas; WTAMU’s
athletic program is one of the
most successful in Division
II, as six teams reached the
NCAA Tournament including
three teams that earned the
right to host opening rounds
of the playoffs. She graduated from UR with a B.A. in
psychology and English (with
honors), with a concentration
in language, media, and communications. Additionally,
Rachel played softball for the
university and was the student
assistant to the sports information director for three years,
while also taking on a number
of internships in the sports
and media industries, including one with Sirius Satellite
Radio and another with
the Rochester Red Wings,
the Triple-A affiliate of the
Minnesota Twins.
2004
At the 2008 Vanderbilt Film
Festival, Stewart Anderson
took home the Audience
Award, one of only three
awards given. Stewart’s film,
Ten Percent of Nothing, a mockumentary about a college
senior trying to be a talent
agent on campus, was selected
from a field of roughly 20
films as the viewers’ favorite
film. Stewart graduated from
Vanderbilt University on May
9 with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Political Science
and is heading to Los Angeles
to work at a talent agency.
2005
Katie Hampson made dean’s
list at Hobart and William
Smith Colleges in Geneva,
New York. She just moved
to Boston for the spring
semester to build on her Art
History studies and past gallery experience through an
internship at Skinner, Inc.
Pingry science teacher and
varsity squash coach Ramsay
Vehslage writes, “Maggie
O’Toole and the Princeton
women’s squash team won
their second consecutive
national championship. They
were prohibitive favorites
last year, but this year they
were seeded second and beat
undefeated Penn in the finals
to win the championship.”
Sarah Filipski, a student
at Davidson College, was
accepted, along with seven
other Davidson students, to
travel to Kenya this summer
for a public health trip. She
applied for the trip under
her premedical program and
worked in an AIDS clinic
and a hospital specializing in
orthopedics, ophthalmology,
and maternity. Her group also
made frequent trips to local
orphanages. For time off, they
went on a few safaris. Read
about Sarah’s trip in the Alumni
News section of this issue.
Former faculty
Phyllis Hawkins, who
taught at Pingry from 1975
to 1976, writes, “I was the
first female member of The
Pingry School’s history department way back when Scott
Cunningham was headmaster
in the mid-seventies. I so
enjoyed my three freshmen Western Civilization
[classes] and one eighth-grade
American history class during the very special year
that I taught there. I would
love to learn where my talented and gifted students are
today.” Phyllis’s address is
Hawk134@gmail.com.
71
summer /fall 2008
2002
Ashley Kazmerowski and
Travis Lan are excited to
announce their recent engagement. The couple met at
Pingry and graduated together
in 2002. The wedding will
take place in Newport, R.I.,
in the spring of 2009.
Kazmerowski and Lan plan to marry in the spring of 2009
[ in memoriam ]
Pingry Remembers Life
Trustee Robert B. Gibby ’31
Pingry Life Trustee Robert B. Gibby
’31 of Meadow Lakes in Hightstown,
N.J., and Pocono Lake Preserve, Pa.,
passed away April 21, 2008, at his
home. Born in Roselle, N.J., Mr.
Gibby was educated at The Pingry
School, the Hill School (Class of
1932), and Princeton University
(Class of 1936). At the time of his
death, he had served two terms as
president of his Princeton class,
known as The Pride of Nassau. He
was in the office furniture business
in New York City and worked at
Desks Inc. for 50 years, entering
as a salesman and later becoming
a co-owner.
Mr. Gibby served in World War II as
an aide to Major General Donald C.
Cubbison at Fort Bragg, N.C., and in
U.S.F.E.T. Headquarters, Frankfurt,
Germany, in the Adjutant Generals
Division in charge of top secret
control and cable distribution for
all of Europe. He was honorably
discharged after 30 months of service as captain. As a member of
Westminster Presbyterian Church
(later Third-Westminster Pres.) in
Elizabeth, he served as deacon, elder,
and trustee and was twice elected
president of the board of trustees.
72
the pingry review
Mr. Gibby was very active in education, serving on The Pingry School
Board of Trustees for 40 years. He
was awarded Pingry’s highest honor—the Letter-in-Life Award—and
he was elected Pingry’s only life
trustee.
At the time of his 60th reunion
at Princeton, Mr. Gibby donated
an all-Washington Garden to the
Princeton Campus consisting of
19 English boxwoods grown from
hedges planted by George Washington
in 1798 and 36 varieties of flowers,
all from Mount Vernon, Va.,
Washington’s home. He later
Stewart E. Lavey ’63, 62, loving husband of Suzanne (Laurence) Lavey,
died suddenly on May 22, 2008. Mr.
Lavey lived on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan with his wife, who had
a 34-year career as a dancer with The
Metropolitan Opera Ballet. He was
an enthusiastic supporter of the Met
and various other educational and
charitable organizations.
Mr. Lavey was an attorney at Drinker
Biddle & Reath LLP, where he was a
managing partner and a leader of the
corporate and securities practice in
the Florham Park, N.J., office. Mr.
Lavey practiced law for 38 years, joining Shanley & Fisher as of counsel in
1985 and becoming a partner in July
1987. When Shanley combined with
Drinker Biddle in 1999, he was
instrumental in helping lead their
integration.
was awarded the Alumni Council
Award for service to Princeton.
In 1949, Mr. Gibby began a hobby
collecting American historical prints
that illustrated events in the life of
George Washington. During the
1960s and 1970s, he lectured and
showed the prints to schools, historical societies, and civic organizations,
and, in the mid-70s, the N.J.
Cultural Center of Trenton asked
for the prints to be exhibited at the
museum in Trenton. Over 100,000
people saw the exhibit, and the
museum then asked for a selection
of prints to travel to the schools
in New Jersey during the 200th
celebration of the Declaration of
Independence.
Mr. Gibby’s wife Anne Willard
Gibby predeceased him in 2003, and
he is survived by his children Robert
B. Gibby, Jr. ’60, Bloomfield, Conn.;
Susan Gibby Gillim, Chatham, N.J.;
Alan W. Gibby ’66, Burlington,
N.C.; and James M. Gibby ’73,
Bethesda, Md.; and eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
d
He was a proud graduate and active
alumnus of The Pingry School—he
was president of the PAA Board from
1996 to 2000; a trustee; chair of the
Hall of Fame nominating committee,
member of the Career Day, Letter-inLife, and Hall of Fame committees;
and a class agent. In 1962, he was
inducted into Pingry’s Hall of Fame as
a member of the 1962 Football Team,
and he received the 2002 Nelson L.
Carr Service Award for his dedicated
service in support of Pingry.
He graduated from Syracuse
University in 1967 and was a 1970
graduate and adjunct faculty member
of Fordham University School of Law.
Mr. Lavey was a respected member of
the Schwab House Board of Directors.
Mr. Lavey was an avid boater and
enjoyed spending many of his summers off the Atlantic coast.
Westfield, N.J., and the Board of
Trustees of Carolina Meadows in
Chapel Hill, N.C., and he was a
member of the Carolina Meadows
singing group, the Meadows Singers.
d
In addition to his children, including
Marc ’80, he is survived by a sister,
Bernadette Jorgensen; his daughtersin-law, Bridget Tuthill and Tracy
Figueredo; grandchildren Jennifer Lee
and her husband Ray, Christine
Norman, Suzanne Norman, Liam
Norman, and Elsa Norman; and
great-grandson Christian Lee.
Wilfred H. Norman, former trustee,
passed away on April 2, 2008, at
Carolina Meadows in Chapel Hill,
N.C. He was 85.
Mr. Norman was the son of Leslie
Elliot Norman and Edith Farley
Norman and was born on August 15,
1922, in Toronto, Canada, and raised
in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He
was a graduate of the University of
Manitoba and St. John’s University
School of Law.
d
He served as a sergeant in the
Canadian Army. He married
Corinne Adele Strong in 1946 and
they had two children, Bruce Elliot
and Lesley Anne. Following
Corinne’s untimely death in 1959,
Mr. Norman married the late Patricia
Clara Norman in 1960 and they
had a third child, Marc Edward.
Mr. Norman was an active member
of his community. He served on the
Board of Governors of the North
York Hospital in Toronto, Canada,
the Board of Trustees of The Pingry
School, the Board of Trustees of
Echo Lake Country Club in
Dr. Knauer was Board Certified in
Obstetrics and Gynecology and was
a Fellow of the International College
of Surgeons. He was an associate
professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the New Jersey College of
Medicine, chairman of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
at Elizabeth General Medical Center
and senior attending physician at
St. Elizabeth Hospital and Elizabeth
General Medical Center. He was
active in the Rotary Club of
Elizabeth and a member of Second
Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth,
where he served on its Board of
Deacons.
After retiring to Naples in 1987,
he was an active member of the
Princeton Club of Southwest Florida,
enjoying socializing with fellow
Tigers.
George Knauer, Jr. ’37, M.D., 89, of
Naples, Fla., and Belgrade Lakes,
Maine, died on May 12, 2008.
He was born March 1, 1919, in
Elizabeth, N.J., to George Knauer Sr.,
M.D., and Bertha (Boller) Knauer.
Dr. Knauer graduated from The
Pingry School in 1937 and attended
Princeton University, graduating
with honors in biology in 1941. He
went on to Cornell Medical School,
graduating in 1944, and completed
his internship and first year of residency in obstetrics and gynecology
at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New
York City. Dr. Knauer served in
the Army from 1946 to 1948 at
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., and
was discharged with the rank of
Captain. Following his army service,
he returned to St. Vincent’s Hospital
in New York to complete his three-
In addition to his dedication to his
profession and family, Dr. Knauer
was an avid tropical fish hobbyist
and a passionate gardener. Every
plant he cultivated became “my best
plant” and he asked that the following poem be included here: “The kiss
of the sun for pardon, the song of the
birds for mirth, one is nearer God’s
heart in the garden, than anywhere
else on earth.”
He was predeceased by his wife
Bobbie and his brother Warren H.
Knauer ’40, M.D.
He is survived by his sister Ottilie
“Jan” Griesemer; his daughter Nancy
A. Knauer; his sons, George Knauer
III ’69, Christopher B. Knauer ’72,
and Edward B. Knauer ’73; and his
grandchildren Shawn C. Knauer,
Elizabeth L. Knauer, and Rachel B.
Knauer.
d
73
summer /fall 2008
Mr. Norman had a 23-year career
with Ortho Pharmaceuticals and
Johnson & Johnson, starting out in
sales at Ortho Canada and moving
on to President of Johnson Canada,
Chairman of Ortho Great Britain,
Ortho Belgium, Johnson & Johnson
Italy, and Johnson & Johnson South
Africa, and finally to the Executive
Committee of J&J. Following early
retirement in 1975, Mr. Norman
graduated from law school and practiced law for several years before taking over as President of the Overlook
Hospital Foundation in Summit, N.J.
Following his retirement, he and his
wife left their home of many years in
Westfield and moved to Chapel Hill.
year residency. In 1947, he married
Barbara “Bobbie” Jean Brokaw. He
joined with Philip Wolgin, M.D.,
and Harold Goldfield, M.D., to form
the Elizabeth Obstetric Group in
Elizabeth, N.J.
[ in memoriam ]
Chaplain Robert T. Deming ’40,
Lt. Col. (Ret.) U.S. Air Force, of
Fredericksburg, Tex., died on May 17,
2008, at the age of 85.
Robert Treat Deming was born in
Elizabeth, N.J., on Dec. 20, 1922.
He was the second child of Robert
and Adele Deming.
Mr. Deming enrolled in Princeton
University to pursue a degree in
chemical engineering, but suspended
his studies during World War II to
enlist in the Army Air Corps. During
the war, Bob served as a navigator,
and after the war he served in the Air
Force Reserves.
He is also survived by his grandchildren Esther Deming, Hadley Deming,
Justin Deming and his
wife Kim, Jonathan Deming and
his wife Katherine, Roy Freemont
Greider, and Jordy Wayne Greider,
and great-grandson Payton Deming.
d
He returned to Princeton and completed his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering as a member of the
Class of 1947. Afterward, he earned
a master’s degree in theology from
Princeton Theological Seminary.
Thomas R. Cashmore ’45, 79, of
South Dartmouth, Mass., died on
January 6, 2007, in Massachusetts
General Hospital in Boston. He was
the husband of Patricia L. (Black
Loughlin) Cashmore.
Mr. Deming married Alice Louise
Webster in Daytona Beach, Fla.,
on Jan. 1, 1949, and in May 1953
he returned to active duty in the
U.S. Air Force as a Chaplain First
Lieutenant
Born in Chicago, Ill., he was the son
of the late Harold G. and Florence
H. (McKay) Cashmore. He spent
most of his life living in Elizabeth,
N.J., before moving to Cheshire,
Connecticut, for 30 years and
eventually moving to Dartmouth.
Over the years, they raised five
children while Mr. Deming served his
country in Lakenheath, England;
Detroit, Mich.; Athens, Greece; Big
Spring, Tex.; Bangkok, Thailand; and
Rantoul, Ill.
74
Deming Chong; son Robert Deming
and his fiancé Sherrill Fries; ex-daughter-in-law, but forever daughter-in-law,
Brenda Boon Deming; son Peter
Deming and his wife Terry Griffin;
son David Deming and his wife Jana;
and daughter Melodie Deming
Greider and her husband Ben.
the pingry review
After retiring from the Air Force
as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1977,
Mr. Deming served as pastor at
Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in
Pilgrim, Tex., and afterward at
Memorial Presbyterian Church
in Fredericksburg.
He enjoyed a wide range of interests,
including traveling, camping, volkssporting, woodworking, baseball, and
astronomy. His genuine interest in
others allowed him to make friends
everywhere he went.
Mr. Deming’s wife Alice passed away
in 1995. He is survived by his sister
Sally Robinson; daughter Adele
After graduating from The Pingry
School, Mr. Cashmore attended
Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.,
where he became a charter member
of the Brainard Student Union. He
was employed as a marketing and
manufacturing representative for
many companies from 1949 until
his retirement in 2002.
An avid square dancer, Mr. Cashmore
and his late wife Arlene (Smalley)
Cashmore founded the Cheshire
Cats, a square dance club in
Cheshire, Conn. He was also very
active in the Boy Scouts as a scout
leader and committee chairman for
Troop 91 in Cheshire.
Mr. Cashmore was a United States
Army Veteran of World War II for
the Occupation Forces in Germany.
When all is said and done Mr.
Cashmore will be remembered as
an affable, energetic, and engaging
man who touched all he met with
his caring and gentle wit.
Surviving in addition to his wife are
four sons, Douglas Cashmore of
Murrietta, Calif., Stephen Cashmore
of Rumson, N.J., Alan Cashmore of
Cheshire, Conn., and Craig Cleasby
of So. Windsor, Conn.; two daughters, Cynthia Sweeney of Fairfield,
Conn. and Dianne Cook of Cheshire,
Conn.; one brother, Robert Cashmore
of Sarasota, Florida; 14 grandchildren;
seven great-grandchildren; and many
nieces and nephews.
Mr. Cashmore was also the brother of
the late Harold “Mac” Cashmore ’41.
d
Peyton Miller Pitney ’47, formerly of
Arendtsville, Pa., died on March 18,
2008, at the Gettysburg Lutheran
Nursing Home. He was 78.
He was born in Morristown, N.J.,
on July 22, 1929, a son of the late
Mahlon Pitney and Margaret Cooley
Wilson. He attended The Pingry
School and graduated from Exeter
Academy, Class of 1947, and from
Kenyon College, Class of 1951, with
a degree in mathematics. While at
Kenyon, he was captain of the baseball team. In 1963, he received his
master’s in education from Harvard
University.
During the Korean War, Mr. Pitney
served as a weatherman with the
Navy from 1952 to 1954, stationed
at Point Mugu Naval Air Station in
California.
Upon completion of his military service, he began his teaching career
with Pingry (Elizabeth campus). He
was awarded a Fulbright teaching
exchange in England, where he
taught mathematics at a school in
Birmingham. During that year, he
met his English wife Tricia whom
he married before returning to the
United States. He continued to teach
at Pingry until 1965, when he was
invited to teach mathematics at
Northfield Mount Hermon School.
There he served as chairman of the
mathematics department, then as
dean of students, and finally as head
of the Northfield campus. He
enjoyed summers with his family at
their cabin on Silver Lake in New
Hampshire. He also enjoyed playing
on the faculty ice hockey team.
In 1978, he retired to Arendtsville,
Pa., where he operated Pitney’s
Groundkeeping and later Adams
Financial Planners. He taught briefly
at Mercersberg Academy, Mount
Saint Mary’s University, and York
College.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years
Patricia Foster Pitney; two daughters,
Susan Giuffreda and her husband
Tony of Gettysburg, Pa., and Jennifer
Pitney and her fiancé Steve
Schimmel of San Francisco, Calif.
He also leaves six grandchildren,
Thomas, Timothy, Matthew, Kristin,
Elizabeth, and Emily Giuffreda of
Gettysburg. Also surviving is a brother, Philip Pitney, and his wife Barbara
of Bernardsville, N.J. His brother
Mahlon Pitney predeceased him.
d
Charles Pope Day Jr. ’50, CDR
(Ret.), U.S. Navy, of Short Hills,
died suddenly on June 1, 2008, while
on board the U.S.S. Tarawa en route
from Hawaii to San Diego. Mr. Day
passed away while doing what he
most enjoyed, supporting his country
and the U.S. Navy. He is survived by
his wife Sally Day, daughter Margaret
Day ’93, stepson Hamilton Peterson,
grandson Benjamin Elliott Day Neri,
and son-in-law Nick Neri.
Gilbert Harry Carver ’79, 46, died
suddenly at his home in Los Angeles
on March 13, 2008. Gibb grew up in
Short Hills, N.J., and graduated from
The Pingry School in New Jersey and
from Syracuse University in 1983.
Mr. Carver always had a great love for
domestic pets and gardening and
included both in every place he lived.
Following graduation from Syracuse,
he resided in North Pomfret, Vt.,
Mr. Carver attended the University
of Colorado in Denver where he
continued his study of architecture
for an additional two years. Following
this, he moved to Los Angeles, where
he resided for the past 17 years.
While in Los Angeles, he initially
owned and operated the Grateful Pet
Service and then was a Real Estate
Agent associated with various firms.
He leaves his father Calvin R. Carver
and his step-mother June G. Carver
of Short Hills, N.J. and North
Pomfret, Vt.; a sister Marcey Carver
of Bradford, Vt.; a brother Chip
Carver Jr. ’77, and sister-in-law Anne
DeLaney ’79 of Mendham, N.J.; stepsisters Julie F. Snell of Charlottesville,
Va.; Janie Scurti of Yardley, Pa.;
and Jill DiNola of Cumberland, Md.;
his partner for many years, Tony
Fernandez, in Los Angeles; and many
aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and
friends. His mother Emma Gilbert
Carver predeceased him in 1977.
d
Family and friends mourn the loss
of Judson Ahrens ’93, 33, wonderful,
loving son and brother, business
entrepreneur, and dedicated friend
to so many. He died suddenly in an
automobile accident on October 21,
2007. Judson, a 1994 graduate of
Gettysburg College, was a partner
with TPS3 in Knoxville, Tenn.
He is survived by his fiancée Mary
Katherine Tegano of Knoxville,
Tenn; his parents Jean and Jay
Ahrens of Savannah, Ga.; his sister
and brother-in-law Jennifer and Chris
Butler and their children Marc and
Cate of Arlington, Mass.; his grandparents Pat and Irv Ryerson of
Wilmington, N.C.; his aunt and
uncle Lynn and Joe Barnard; his
uncle Alan B. Ahrens, and cousins
Andrew and Matthew Barnard, and
Courtney and Chandler Ahrens.
d
Dr. Leigh Grieco Cascarilla ’95, 30,
passed away at home in New York
on May 10, 2008, after battling
ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) for the
past few years. She was born in
Livingston, N.J. and lived in Short
Hills, N.J. until she married Charles
C. Cascarilla, CFA, and then moved
to New York City. Dr. Cascarilla
graduated from Bucknell University
in Lewisburg, Pa., where she was a
member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority and
received a Doctor of Dental Medicine
from the University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey. A licensed
dentist, she commenced the dental
residency at Morristown Memorial
Hospital in Morristown, N.J., before
becoming ill. She is survived by her
husband Charles G. Cascarilla, CFA,
of New York, N.Y.; her parents Gloria
E. Grieco and Ralph A. Grieco; her
brother Michael J. Grieco, M.D., all
of Short Hills, N.J., her in-laws
Ralph and Virginia Cascarilla; and
sisters-in-law Elizabeth and Grace
Cascarilla, all of Bay Village, Ohio.
d
Former business manager Anthony J.
Carro, 85, died on June 16, 2008, at
home in Bridgewater. His career began
in public accounting and he was
appointed board secretary/business
administrator of the Elizabeth Board of
Education in 1958. In 1967, he assumed
the role of business manager at Pingry’s
Hillside Campus and was instrumental
in the construction of and move to the
new campus in Bernards Township.
He remained in that position for over
20 years. Thereafter, he continued to
operate his own accounting business
until his retirement in 2002. Anthony
was happily married for 59 years and
is survived by his wife Rosemary,
11 children, including Peter ’78, and
27 grandchildren.
d
We also mourn the loss of Ruth Lewis
Runge, former librarian at the Short
Hills Campus, who passed away on
March 29, 2008.
75
summer /fall 2008
d
for five years. From his office in
Woodstock, Vt., he designed and built
homes and various commercial buildings in the area.
[ dictum ultimum ]
By Fred Fayen
76
the pingry review
About 20 years ago, when a Form II
student and I walked through the
Martinsville halls, she earnestly
asked why I was “wasting such a fine
and expensive education to be just a
teacher.” Since I could hear in her
question an echo of the perennial
adult version, “when I retire, I think
I might like to teach,” I understood
that she was both defining values
and expressing curiosity, unsure of
how to reconcile the conflicts that
she perceived. When I responded, I
spoke of the rewards involved in contributing to student growth, the satisfaction generated by developing skills
and shaping character, and the fun
of sharing common goals and experiences. I explained that effective
teaching takes place in classrooms,
in the halls and gathering places, on
the athletic fields, in offices, on the
bus—in short, in every possible circumstance in the school setting—
and, combined with the formal
honor code and informal discussions,
extends far beyond the school’s
boundaries, both in space and time.
When we parted at the front door,
I knew that my answer lacked the
force of concrete examples. It is one
thing to tell a student about an experience, but quite another to show the
impact of that experience in a more
tangible way. If I could re-live the
moment, I would ask her to read
some of the treasured notes and letters I have received from graduates
defining what they think are the
most important character traits or
skills that Pingry helped them develop; they may have written a similar
note to other teachers, but they
clearly believe that somehow my particular role as advisor, teacher, coach,
or college counselor had an impact
upon their lives. Their notes often
echo one or the other of my two
favorite mottoes, which both challenge and support students: “No one
rises to low expectations,” and the
more broadly known, “Give me a
fish, and I can eat for a day; teach me
to fish, and I can eat for a lifetime.”
Each motto is entirely consistent
with Dr. Pingry’s belief that the
greatest respect is due students.
When I was invited to write this
article for The Pingry Review, I realized I had an opportunity to finish
that long-ago conversation, so I
selected a letter that I received some
years ago from a graduate—a former
college counselee, who, at that point,
had been out of Pingry for over 30
years. He wrote, “Dear Mr. Fayen,
and perhaps I can call you Fred since
I am turning 50 this spring . . . I’m
not sure if you remember me, but I
graduated [long, long ago] and I
think about you often, so I thought
I’d drop you a note . . . My oldest son
is a senior in high school, and raising
him through high school has been
severely challenging and has often
caused me to look back at my own
experiences and try to find some
flicker of hope that he will ignite his
engines and get going in his studies
. . . What I really want to say is thank
you for your help, your insight, and
your attention. I was not extremely
motivated in high school, and I
think I was probably depressed about
a lot of things, and filled with selfdoubt. After graduation, you sent me
a note saying good luck and expressing conviction that I would be successful, whether ‘as a doctor, lawyer,
or Indian chief.’ I was surprised at
your confidence, given the lack of my
own, but that really inspired me, and
I think of it often. I am always grateful to my parents for sending me [and
my younger sibling] to Pingry. I have
only great memories, and my short
time there prepared me well for college. I am truly grateful to you for
your even-tempered guidance. I
remember you as a stable, influential
role model for me, and I have always
appreciated that . . . Again, thank
you belatedly for really helping to
guide and direct a meandering high
school kid toward his life…”
When I retire, I think I might like
to teach.
Editor’s Note: Fred retired in June of 2008
after 45 years as a member of the Pingry
faculty. A graduate of Phillips Exeter
Academy ’57, Harvard College (B.A.) ’61,
and NYU (M.A.) ’67, he began his career
at Pingry in 1963 after teaching in
California for two years.
pingry
alumni
s
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tuesday, October 21
Alumni Admissions
calendar of upcoming eventss Open House
6:30 p.m., Short Hills Campus
Wednesday, October 28
Washington, D.C. Area
College Luncheon
12:00 p.m., Location TBA
Washington, D.C. Area
Alumni Reception
Time and Location TBA
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Back From College
Luncheon
11:30 a.m., Lower Commons,
Martinsville Campus
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Alumni Basketball
Game
10:30 a.m. Warm-up
11:00 a.m. Game
Bristol Gym, Martinsville
Campus
Friday, November 28
Alumni Ice Hockey
Game
8:00 p.m., Beacon Hill Ice Rink,
Summit, NJ
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
For additional information please feel free to contact:
Jackie Sullivan, Director of Alumni Relations
and Annual Giving, at jsullivan@pingry.org
Contact person for the classes of the ’30s, ’40s, ’90s, and ’00s
Kristen Tinson, Associate Director of Alumni Relations
and Annual Giving, at ktinson@pingry.org
Contact person for the classes of the ’50s and ’60s
Alison Harle, Associate Director of Alumni Relations
and Annual Giving, at aharle@pingry.org
Contact person for the classes of the ’70s and ’80s
Or call the Alumni and Development Office
at 800-994-ALUM (2586)
Visit us online:
www.pingry.org
SAVE THE DATE
Friday, May 15 to Saturday, May 16, 2009
Reunion Weekend
Martinsville Campus
For classes ending in 4 and 9
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Do you have a new job? Do you have a new child? Are you moving?
Are you getting married? Do you have other news you would like to
share with your classmates? If so, send us your class note for the
next issue of The Pingry Review, and we are happy to publish a photo
with your note. Please email your note and photo to Kristen Tinson
at ktinson@pingry.org or mail them to Kristen Tinson, Associate
Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, The Pingry School,
P.O. Box 366, Martinsville Road, Martinsville, NJ 08836.
We will return all photos.
Save the Date! Reunion Weekend at the Martinsville Campus, May 15-16, 2009
For classes ending in 4 and 9
Non Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Clifton, N.J.
PERMIT NO. 1104
THE PINGRY SCHOOL
Martinsville Campus, Upper and Middle School
Short Hills Campus, Lower School
Martinsville Road
PO Box 366
Martinsville, NJ 08836
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