Bulletin Winter 2008

ST. GEORGE’SST. GEORGE’SWinter Bulletin2008

St. George’s SchoolP.O. Box 1910Newport, RI 02840-0190

PresortedBound Printed Matter

U.S. Postage PAID

Burlington, VTPermit No. 21

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In this issue:Chapel talks:

The real magic of Christmas BY ALEXANDRIA REGAN ’08

Forgiveness BY MORGAN BEESON ’08

Thankfulness BY JEREMY GOLDSTEIN

Transported BY LUCIA JACCACI

People of the world BY LEON KANDELAARS

Signature altar window in chapel to be replaced

Students, teachers prepare for trip to Uganda

Q & A with the Director of Operations

New summer Geronimo program offered

Strategic Plan Update

Reunion Weekend 2008

Student achievements

News from the classrooms

Athletics, Arts and Community Service

Class Notes

St. George’s School admits male and

female students of any religion, race, color,

sexual orientation, and national or ethnic

origin to all the programs and activities gener-

ally accorded or made available to students at

the school. It does not discriminate on the

basis of religion, gender, race, color, sexual

orientation, or national or ethnic origin in the

administration of its educational policies,

scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and

other school-administered programs. In addi-

tion, the school welcomes visits from disabled

applicants.

St. George’s Policy onNon-Discrimination

In 1896, the Rev. John Byron Diman,

founder of St. George’s School, wrote in his

“Purposes of the School” that “the specific

objectives of St. George’s are to give its stu-

dents the opportunity of developing to the

fullest extent possible the particular gifts that

are theirs and to encourage in them the desire

to do so. Their immediate job after leaving

school is to handle successfully the demands of

college; later it is hoped that their lives will be

ones of constructive service to the world and

to God.”

As we begin the 21st century, we continue

to teach young women and men the value of

learning and achievement, service to others,

and respect for the individual. We believe that

these goals can best be accomplished by expos-

ing students to a wide range of ideas and

choices in the context of a rigorous curriculum

and a supportive residential community.

Therefore, we welcome students and

teachers of various talents and backgrounds,

and we encourage their dedication to a multi-

plicity of pursuits —intellectual, spiritual, and

physical—that will enable them to succeed in

and contribute to a complex, changing world.

St. George’s SchoolMission Statement

ST. GEORGE ’ S 2 0 0 8 WINTER BULLET IN 1

From the Editor’s Desk ........................................................................................................................................2Letter to the Editor: Behrend Pool memories ................................................................................................3Behind it, the sun rises: Altar window gets a redesign BY SUZANNE M. HADFIELD ..................................4Caring for the campus: An interview with Director of Operations George Staples ............................6The real magic of Christmas BY ALEXANDRIA REGAN ’08................................................................................12Forgiveness BY MORGAN BEESON ’08 ..................................................................................................................15Thankfulness BY JEREMY GOLDSTEIN ....................................................................................................................18Community Service: Reaching out to others ..............................................................................................21A chance to reflect and refocus BY C. JOSEPH GOULD ..................................................................................22Transported BY LUCIA JACCACI ............................................................................................................................26People of the world BY LEON KANDELAARS ........................................................................................................28Faculty members will again head to the East ............................................................................................31Students, teachers prepare for trip to Uganda ..........................................................................................32There in spirit BY LAUREN O’HALLORAN ’10 ......................................................................................................34New summer program offered on Geronimo ..............................................................................................36Highlights: Student achievements ................................................................................................................38College Acceptances ........................................................................................................................................40Classrooms ..........................................................................................................................................................42Arts ........................................................................................................................................................................48Athletics................................................................................................................................................................50Giving back: News from the Alumni/ae office ..........................................................................................55Board of Trustees Notes ..................................................................................................................................56Reunion Weekend 2008 ..................................................................................................................................58Post Hilltop: Alumni/ae in the news............................................................................................................60Faculty/staff notes ..........................................................................................................................................64Campus happenings ..........................................................................................................................................66Traditions..............................................................................................................................................................68Around campus ..................................................................................................................................................74Class Notes ..........................................................................................................................................................77

The St. George’s Bulletin is published bi-annually. Suzanne M. Hadfield, editor; Dianne Reed, communications

associate; Toni Ciany, editorial assistant; and members of the Alumni/ae Office, copy editors.

ST. GEORGE’S SCHOOL

P.O. BOX 1910

NEWPORT, RI 02840-0190

Office of the Bulletin Editor

tel: (401) 842-6792

fax: (401) 842-6745

e-mail: [email protected]

Main School Tel: (401) 847-7565

Main School Fax: (401) 842-6677

Toll free: 1.888.ICALLSG

Alumni/ae web site: http://www.stgeorges.edu

The choir enters the chapel at the start

of the Christmas Festival.

PHOTO BY ANDREA HANSEN

On the cover:

Ellie Myers ’08, Will O’Connor ’08 and

Sasha Munn ’08 celebrate at the

Christmas Festival in December.


On the back cover:

Esi Ozemebhoya ’11 and Hillary Wein ’11

share some time during

Parents Weekend.


St. George’sB u l l e t i n

C o n t e n t s

The Alumni/ae Magazine ofSt. George’s School

Newport, R.I.

2 S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 0 8 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

Acompact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb, aplane ticket to Uganda, the new HonorCode, a sketch of the chapel’s new altar

window: If SG were to compile a list of items for a timecapsule, these might make the cut. They say somethingabout the times we’re living in; they show that we’re

able to grow and change—and yet still adhereclosely to our mission.

As this edition of the Bulletin goes topress, we’re in the full throes of a multi-school competition called the Green CupChallenge, trying to reduce our energy usageand win the title of most energy consciousamong 32 peer schools. Meanwhile, 10 stu-dents in Tony Jaccaci’s Global Seminar classand four teachers are preparing to leaveschool on March 4 for a 12-day trip toUganda, the first such school-sponsored tripfor the school—and the direct result of the“Global Engagement” initiatives outlined inthe 2006 Strategic Plan.

Another goal of that plan was an expandedteacher-exchange program and increased oppor-tunities for professional development. We’recontinuing our exchange with the Chinese In-ternational School in Hong Kong (“Trans-ported,” p. 26 and “People of the world,” p. 28),as well as sending another seven teachers to

Korea, China and possibly Japan this June.Like campuses nationwide, we’re thinking more

globally and more about being green. We’re alsodoing our fair share of self-examination, not settlingfor the status quo.

A revamped Honor Code, signed by every mem-ber of the community last fall, reminds us that it’s notenough to stand by quietly while injustices takeplace. “St. George’s School expects all members ofthe community to act honorably, to encourage othersto act honorably, and to address any violations of thecode they might encounter,” the code states.

Indeed, our students are thinking more about the

impact of their actions on the world beyond theirhomes and about the people unlike themselves whotouch their lives (“The real magic of Christmas,” p.12; “Landon family spends the holidays volunteeringin Africa,” p. 33). They’re also committed strongly tohelping others and recognizing good works (“Com-munity Service,” p. 21.)

This past year, we’ve examined long-standingprograms (“New summer program offered on Geron-imo,” p. 36) and taken care to not forget our past,which needs, in turn, to be cared for. For years thesignature window in the chapel has remain untouched,but weather and time have taken their toll. It’s timefor a renovation (“Behind it, the sun rises,” p. 4). Andas Director of Operations George Staples reminds us,our campus only stays beautiful with careful planningand attention (“Caring for the campus, p. 6). In facteven something as unglamorous as deferred mainte-nance, the “budget deficit” of independent school fi-nance offices, is part of the strategic plan.

When community members met to draft that planin the fall of 2006, they also committed to keepingtrack of our progress on it. Each of the seven strategicelements of the plan—Advances in Science and Tech-nology; Community, Responsibility and Leadership;Culture of Innovation; Diversity Gender and Equity;Global Engagement; Professional Excellence; andSustainability and Stewardship—contains actionitems that the community has agreed to accomplish.

We’ve already made headway on a number ofthem. In this Bulletin, as well as in future publica-tions, we’ll graphically illustrate our progress onthese items by publishing the appropriate strategicplan icon with news stories that pertain to them.These seven strategic elements have been identifiedas most important to our students’ and the school’ssuccess in the next five to 10 years.

At St. George’s, a spirit of innovation and deter-mination prevails. We hope you find our latest initia-tives aren’t just about words, but actions.

St. George’sF r o m t h e e d i t o r ’ s d e s k

My son, 15-month-old Connor E.J.,and I at my parents’ house inStonington, Conn.

Suzanne M. Hadfield

Bulletin Editor


Alum recalls spotting a celebrity at the oldBehrend Pool

TO THE EDITOR:Since I was Class of 1959, I’d guess the year was

winter of 1957 or 1958.

I was in the gallery watching a swim meet and, be-

cause of all the older people crowded into the tiny bal-

cony, it must have been Parents Weekend.

Whether we all knew she was coming, or I learned

it from eavesdropping, I became aware that the elegant,

old, fading woman, shrouded in a black dress to her

ankles and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, with whom

Mr. C.P.B. Jefferies and his wife were conversing was

Tallulah Bankhead, the movie actress from my parents’

generation. Her nephew, Billy Bankhead—who was in

the class of 1960 or 1961—was on the swim team;

maybe he was a diver.

I pressed in closer to hear the conversation.

Tallulah Bankhead was not only the most famous per-

son I could imagine, but she was a Southerner—from

Alabama—and I was from North Carolina, and South-

erners were a rarity at SG in those days. (In the Lance

for our year you will see a photo of me standing at the

podium in the Study Hall giving a talk to the school

on Lincoln’s birthday which, the inscription says, was

titled, “Abraham Lincoln, Friend of the South.”)

The pool was much warmer than the frigid

outside temperature, and the heat rose making

the gallery warmer and steamier yet. As I sidled

up next to Ms. Bankhead I caught a whiff of her

heavy perfume.

So had Mrs. Jefferies.

“Ms. Bankhead,” she exuded, “I love that scent

you’re wearing.”

Ms. Bankhead smiled and considered the awed

faculty wife for a moment. Then, “Thank you, Dahling.

Every morning after I bathe and before I dress, I put a

dab on every pulse point on my body.”

As I remember, Mrs. Jefferies was too stunned

to respond.

—Blayney Colmore ’59

Have you recently moved? Due to the high cost of postage, Bulletins cannot be forwarded, so please let us know

your new address. Give us a call toll-free at 1-888-422-5574 or log in to the SG web siteand update your profile. If you need help logging in to the web site, click “Login help” inthe sign-in box and enter your e-mail address under “Request Sign-In.”Thanks for helping us make our communications more efficient—and for helping us

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Film and Broadway actress Tallulah Bankhead once appearedin the crowd watching a swim meet at the old Behrend Pool.

ST. GEORGE ’ S 2 0 0 8 WINTER BULLET IN4

Behind it, the sun rises

THE CHAPEL’S OLDEST STAINED-GLASS WINDOW IS

SCHEDULED FOR A NEW LOOK]

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Design and manufacturing legwork for a

new signature window above the altar in

the chapel has begun in earnest now that

the SG Board of Trustees voted unanimously on

Dec. 8 to move forward with the project.

Boston-area stained-glass artist Lyn Hovey,

who’s created every new chapel window since 1999,

has been hired to take on the job.

A huge undertaking, the window project is

scheduled to take two and a half years and, along

with remedial work on the masonry of the East

Wall and the nearby buttresses, will cost approxi-

mately $3 million.

The present altar window was the first stained-

glass window to be installed in the chapel—and the

only one in place when the chapel was consecrated

in 1928.

What to do with the aging window has been

pondered for the past several years.

The window itself never was meant to be per-

manent, according to Jack Doll ’52 in his 2002

“Heart of the Hilltop.”

Chapel donor John Nicholas Brown ’18 knew

that the altar would be the focus of the consecra-

tion in 1928, and designed the window himself to

add color to the area. Interestingly, the window is

not made up of leaded-glass panels, but clear glass

panels that were painted. The design is a multicol-

ored pattern of diamonds and ellipses, intention-

ally decorative, although the three panels at the top

are meant to convey the Trinity and the seven

panels at the bottom represent the seven days of

Creation, according to Doll.

Brown “wanted others to also have the oppor-

tunity to add to the magnificence of his chapel by

donating such things as stained-glass windows,”

Doll said. Since then many members of the com-

munity have stepped forward to donate windows,

including the recently completed Michel Window

on the west wall, in memory of Mickey Michel, the

husband of former board chair Betsy Michel (see

page 55).

Hovey presented a watercolor of his proposed

new design for the altar window that includes the

story of the creation on the bottom panes and

images of Abraham and Sarah, Ester and Ruth,

Moses and Elijah, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Anna

and Simeon, and Martha, Mary and St. Paul on the

panes above.

A trustee has agreed to help underwrite the

window installation to ensure that the process gets

under way right away, and fund-raising for the

project is in progress, according to Assistant Head

of School for External Affairs Joe Gould.

The earliest the new altar window could be

installed would be in the summer of 2010.

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Stained-glass artist Lyn Hovey unveils his design for a new altar window in the Chapel.



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Caring for thecampus

N E W S F R O M T H E O P E R A T I O N S D E P A R T M E N TInfrastructure

AN INTERVIEW WITHDIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS GEORGE STAPLES

George Staples arrived at St. George’s as the newfacilities administrator in 2005. His current title isDirector of Operations. Prior to his arrival, he servedas the director of facilities and operations for theRoman Catholic Diocese of Providence for five years,as the director of architecture and engineering atCVS Corp. for seven years, and as campus planner/designer at Phillips Exeter Academy for six years. He

holds two bachelor’s degrees—one in architecturalengineering from Wentworth Institute of Technologyand one in computer science from NortheasternUniversity. His wife, Mary Jane, who now serves asthe head of Zane Dormitory, was a special educationteacher for 13 years prior to moving onto the Hilltop.The Staples have three children—Colin, 8, Luke, 5and Ryan, 2.


N E W S F R O M T H E O P E R A T I O N S D E P A R T M E N T

Q. Was working at the Diocese of Providencegood preparation for working at St. George’s?

Certainly. The Catholic diocese has approxi-

mately 157 parishes and 55 schools that serve

about 20,000 students. We managed an operation

that included approximately 850 institutional

buildings throughout the state of Rhode Island.

The majority of my focus was on capital renewal,

which included renovating and restoring existing

churches and school facilities. Managing the

Diocesan real estate portfolio was also one of my

major responsibilities. I worked closely with the

chief financial officer and the chief development

officer for the diocese and I consider our teamwork

to be one of the key components to the success of

our operation. I am fortunate enough to have

worked on some of the most beautiful, architec-

turally detailed buildings in Rhode Island and have

gained extensive knowledge just through the sheer

volume of work that was completed each year.

In the five years you that were there, were therespecial projects that became close to your heart?

Yes, working closely with the inner-city

parishes, schools and daycare centers along with

the volunteers who worked endlessly to support

their mission was very rewarding. My services were

most needed in those locations and had an imme-

diate impact on their programs.

You interviewed for the job here at SG withformer Business Manager Wes Hennion. Whatwere your impressions?

It’s hard not to be in awe as you come up Main

Drive and approach the circle in front of Old

School. You immediately notice

diverse architectural elements that

frame green quads, and of course,

views that would rival any others on

the East Coast. I spent more than four hours with

Wes on my first visit to campus. He knew I had

expertise in conducting facility assessments and

the ability to estimate costs fairly quickly. We took

a detailed tour of campus and he asked me what I

thought might be some immediate needs. St.

George’s is like any other boarding school or col-

lege campus in New England: There is a constant

need for roof repairs, brick pointing, window

replacement, and mechanical- and electrical-sys-

tem upgrades. They are hard projects to raise funds

for and are usually on a list of deferred mainte-

nance that is next to impossible to budget for. I

certainly felt as though Wes already knew the needs

of the campus facilities, but wanted me to know

what I may be getting into. I had subsequent inter-

views with Pat Moss (Assistant Head of School for

Academic Affairs), Bob Weston (Dean of Faculty)

and Tim Richards (Assistant Head of School for

Student Life), and they all painted a similar picture

of a very engaged community that was committed

to the success of the student body. At that time I

believe they were looking for an individual who

would understand the needs of the community and

strive to make changes that would enhance the

lives of the faculty and students. It was clear to me

at that point that this position would be more than

tending to bricks and mortar.

And then you met Head of School Eric Peterson?

Yes. Wes had told me on more than one occa-

sion during our discussions that he thought Eric

and I would be a good match. He thought that was

important because of the close relationship the

facilities director would have with the head of

school. We are the same age. Eric is actually one

day older and we share some of the same philoso-

phies about how to operate a school. Eric was very

passionate and specific about the facilities and

operations he needed to fully support his faculty

and staff so they could provide their best effort. It

was reassuring to me to have a very detailed discus-

sion with a head of school about non-academic

topics such as institutional architecture, emergency

preparedness, food services and housekeeping—

major components that effect the day-to-day oper-

ations outside of the classroom. This was going to

be a new position for St. George’s and Eric care-

fully laid out his strategy for its implementation,

which included becoming part of the on-campus


community. I came away from our meeting excited

about the opportunity, but still unsure about leav-

ing my current position with the diocese as well as

selling our home and moving our family.

But you wanted a new opportunity?

My wife Mary Jane was expecting our third

child and was on summer break from teaching at

the time of the offer. I was intrigued with the con-

cept of being involved with more of the day-to-day

operations of the school, and living on campus was

going to be critical to the success of the proposed

position. It would allow me to directly provide

services to the community in which I would be

living, a kind of a talk-the-talk and walk-the-walk

scenario. This position also provided a great

opportunity for us to have Mary Jane stop working

and spend more time with our children. She has

since become the dorm head of Zane Dormitory

where we live and enjoys her interaction with the

students and faculty. As for my children, what is

not to be excited about? We live across the street

from the ocean; we have access to two hockey rinks,

a state-of-the-art pool, a field house, tennis courts,

squash courts and playing fields. We have great

neighbors who are welcoming and share some of

the same duties we have, and there is a good fam-

ily-like feeling to that.

People coming back to campus after a whileoften say, “Wow this place has changed since Iwas here!” What have been some of the majorimprovements?

SG has done an exceptional job in the last 15

years with providing new facilities that it needed.

The Wheeler/Buell dorm complex, Drury/Grosvenor

Art Center, Hamblet Campus Center, East and

Zane dorms and the new Hoyt pool are all very

successful projects. What used to be the back of the

campus (behind the chapel) is now a featured part

of the campus. That was all done, obviously with-

out me here, and a large part of it through the hard

work of the Development Office and Joe (Gould)’s

guidance but also Wes (Hennion), Pat Moss and of

course, Chuck and Carol (Hamblet). The recent

removal of the Behrend Pool remedied a safety

issue, but also brought new views to campus. Port

Draper, who was the head of the buildings and

grounds committee of the SG Board of Trustees,

always thought bringing the library and its archi-

tecture into the open by removing the pool was

significantly going to change the view of the cam-

pus. He was right. The Behrend Quadrangle is the

new open space where the pool once was and pro-

vides new paths of travel to all who once walked

around Auchincloss Dormitory to get to the arts

center, field house and campus center. Diman

North was built around the west end of the pool,

and with the pool’s removal, Diman North became

the beneficiary of a new common room and three

new student rooms with the capacity to sleep five.

The addition of the porch was a nice architectural

design that brought symmetry to the east faces of

both Arden and Diman North, and a newly refaced

west elevation of Auchincloss was returned to its

original state. We have also completed some very

large capital renewal projects that may not be very

visible, but were well needed. For instance, the

chapel roof replacement was a $1.2 million project

that you can’t really appreciate unless you are up in

the chapel tower, yet it is a critical piece of the total

restoration of the chapel and a positive step toward

the management of deferred maintenance.

The school made the decision last year to renovate Twenty House, Diman, Diman Northand Arden. What went into that decision?

A committee chaired by Tim Richards was

initially assembled to review dormitory space

needs. Working with specific student-to-faculty

ratios defined by the committee, an architect pro-

vided options that showed additions to both the

Diman complex and Twenty House. This planning

effort came on the heels of our decision to hire a

campus master-planning firm and it was decided

that we would complete an interior renovation to

all four dormitories and allow the master-planning

process to unfold and look at all campus space

needs before investing in such a large project that

would include any additions to buildings. With


the renovation project behind us, I think I can

speak for all of us in saying it was a huge success.

Student living spaces in all four dorms were signif-

icantly enhanced.

You mentioned the chapel roof restoration project. What do you envision the next stepswill be in maintaining the chapel?

SG contracted with Durkee, Brown, Viveiros &

Werenfels Architects in 2004 to complete a study

that would provide a road map for the eventual

restoration of the chapel. We are fortunate to have

Martha Werenfels as our architect of record. She is

highly recognized as one of the best restoration

architects in New England and has extensive expe-

rience with church restoration projects. Even those

with an untrained eye could see that there was a

water infiltration problem compromising the exte-

rior and interior walls of the chapel. With the new

copper roof in place, we have started to focus on

the exterior sections of the building, with an

emphasis on the east wall because it is the location

in most need of repair. An advanced study of the

east wall masonry was completed last summer, and

has given us a better understanding about how to

approach the restoration of the wall systems. In

December, the board of trustees approved moving

forward with the development of construction

documents that would be used to remedy and

restore the exterior east wall and contiguous

buttresses on the chapel.

And then what comes after that?

The approval to complete construction docu-

ments for the restoration of the east wall coincides

with the approval to complete the artwork neces-

sary to construct a new stained-glass altar window.

With a three- to five-year construction timeline for

the window, our next step would be to restore the

interior east wall prior to the completion of the

altar window. We would then work ourselves

around the building systematically restoring each

wall until completed.

You’ve repeatedly said we can’t overlook maintaining our buildings.

All schools have deferred maintenance. The

goal is to not let the campus condition deterio-

rate to the point where it will impede delivery.


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Schools that have identified and quantified the

costs associated with their deferred maintenance

will make better business decisions with regards

to how they allocate their capital renewal dollars.

I am extremely happy with the support I have had

from our Finance Council and trustees in deter-

mining our deferred maintenance exposure and

working on a financial plan to improve our cur-

rent condition. In 2006 we had a facility condi-

tions audit report completed by Shawmut Design

and Construction to identify and quantify our

deferred maintenance.

Why was the audit needed?

The audit provides empirical data; it’s accurate

and gives us the current aggregate backlog of total

deferred maintenance as well as providing renewal

costs for the next ten years. In essence, it can predict

the future. It can tell us when and where there will be

capital renewal needs. Without this kind of report,

institutions like ours would normally run their sys-

tems and equipment to failure, and then respond to

an emergency rather than a planned capital project.

The information in the audit can be used to develop

financial models for budgeting purposes.

How did you start tackling it?

The decision to not have summer school on

campus certainly provided access to facilities that

would have been otherwise unavailable. The ability

to have four dorms available to renovate in one

summer both helped in terms of cost and it accel-

erated our efforts to reduce deferred maintenance.

We were able to complete a large amount of work

in the core of the campus that could not have been

done if we were housing students.

Most recently you’ve also been involved indeveloping a campus master plan. Can youexplain what the purpose of a campus masterplan is?

A campus master plan is a guide plan that

aligns educational objectives and strategic plan

goals with physical development. It will establish a

broad and comprehensive framework that will

identify future facilities projects, define the interre-

lationships among physical planning decisions and

serve as a basis for financial planning. In its most

basic form, the master plan will be more of a com-

pass that keeps us moving in the right direction.

Does the master plan have a shelf life? For how many years does the master plan providedirection?

The master plan should be revisited every five

years or so to recalibrate after major components

have been completed, but the original plan would

provide a guideline for 15 to 20 years.

What are some of the components of the master plan?

Academic space is one of the top items being

reviewed. That analysis will be helpful in determin-

ing the square footage of teaching space we would

strive for during any future renovations to Memo-

rial Schoolhouse and will certainly help in the early

stages of the design process for the enhancement of

the science facilities. Student life is another very

important component to the master plan. The day-

to-day program that the students follow will be

looked at in detail to ensure the supporting struc-

ture is in place to maintain our particular program

and schedule; that means dorm space, faculty resi-

dences, study spaces, athletic facilities and all the

other supporting structures will be reviewed in

detail. Pedestrian and vehicular paths of travel also

will be reviewed along with the interior spaces.

Are there any keepsakes?

Naturally because of our location, we would

want to maintain certain views to the water, and

open green spaces as we become a more sustainable

community. There are iconic buildings such as the

St. George’s Chapel and Memorial Schoolhouse that

will always remain as key elements and are sacred

to the culture of the school. The one thing to note



about the campus master plan is that it is not a

facilities plan; it is an entire campus plan. Members

of almost every academic and non-academic

department were interviewed and the final plan will

be a collaboration of all of their thoughts and ideas.

What will a master plan look like?

I would expect it to represent in both graphi-

cal and text format our roadmap to the future.

It would graphically capture as much of the

seven components of our strategic plan as possible

along with list the criteria for us to reflect

on when making decisions that would alter the

campus infrastructure.

Will it be a philosophy that we would like toadhere to?

Definitely; holding true to a student body size

or committing to student/faculty ratios with

regards to dormitory coverage are some of the

important principles we would need to adhere to.

All that information quantifies how many cars will

be on campus, how much water, electricity and gas

we will consume and how much food we need to

prepare. The master planners will come back with

many options that address some of our pinch-

points. Some of those options may not fit into our

timeline of need. Some of them may be far too

expensive for us to tackle immediately, but they

may be shelved for the long term with the under-

standing that they are goals to reach. There will be

a balance between their suggestions and what we

are able to immediately accomplish.

Where are we in terms of the process of build-ing/renovating our science facilities?

We sent out Requests for Qualifications

(RFQ’s) to 12 architectural firms and have nar-

rowed our selection to five firms that specialize in

science building design. We expect to interview all

five during the third week of January and to select

a firm within a week after the interview process is

completed. A very well prepared needs-assessment

completed by the science department faculty will

allow the firm selected to start immediately on

determining the exact square footage of building

space needed and potential building layouts.

Will we be rebuilding on the same site?

That is yet to be determined since we have not

started the design process, but with sustainability

in mind, it would have to be a very special set of

circumstances for us to not utilize the existing

building as part of the new science complex. With

the assumption that we would need a facility at

least twice as large as the existing one, I can foresee

new construction somehow wrapping around the

existing building and then a renovation to the

existing facility.

After you get done with your day and you gohome to the dorm, what’s your life like?

Well to start, to be able to walk from my

office to my dorm apartment with a total com-

mute of less than two minutes and the ability to

see both First Beach and Second Beach on my

way, it’s hard not to be happy. Prior to moving

onto campus I lost 10 hours per week to my com-

mute alone, so to recover 40 hours a month of

family time is a great benefit for a young family.

Besides my wife and three children and the 23

girls we live with in the dorm, I have six advisees

who really put the St. George’s student experience

in perspective for me. They have become part of

our immediate family and truly help me under-

stand their daily needs, which is such a great

advantage as the director of operations at a

boarding school. It certainly is not the traditional

“leave your work at the office each day” job,

especially when the entire campus is your office.

I have been fortunate enough to travel through-

out most of our country while working for CVS

Corp. and Mary Jane and I have owned a few

homes while both of us had jobs most would be

envious of, yet I can’t imagine being in a better

place than we are now.


Alex and her brotherBilly carry on afamily tradition—cutting down thetree two days beforeChristmas.

BY ALEXANDRIA REGAN ’08

Following is a chapel talk delivered on Dec. 11, 2007.

I will admit it. I am obsessed with the holiday

season. From the day after Thanksgiving through

Christmas Day, I just can’t get enough of this time

of year. If you ask anybody who knows me well,

they will agree, but I don’t think I have ever really

expressed the true reason why this part of the year

is my absolute favorite.

Sure, I love the Christmas carols, the corny “25

days of Christmas” on ABC Family, the decorations

and the holiday spirit that fills the air. I love the

traditions as well. Every year my family and I go to

our house in the Catskills for Christmas, where we

embark on a number of interesting traditions. Two

days before Christmas we drive up to a tree farm

and cut down a Christmas tree. After bickering

over what tree to get and even one year getting lost

in the tree forest, we then go to our house and put

the tree in our stand (a job my dad particularly

The real magic of Christmas

C H A P E L T A L K SDifferent Takes

dislikes, as it inevitably falls down several times),

and then we decorate it. Then the day of Christmas

Eve arrives. We are all woken up by the sound of

my mother freaking out because she has invited

too many people to our annual Christmas Eve

party and does not have enough food or enough

time to cook it. However, we always seem to get by,

and by seven o’clock our tiny house is flooded with

so many people it is almost impossible to move

around, let alone eat.

Then arrives my favorite day, Christmas. It is

not my favorite because of the presents I receive

(although that is a perk), but because of the weird

Christmas festivities we celebrate. After my brother

and I have shaken off the laziness of Christmas

morning, we go over to our family friend’s house,

where if it has snowed enough, we go on “Mr.

Toad’s wild ride.” Now I am not really sure who Mr.

Toad is or why he has a wild ride, but it is some-

thing my family friends and I have been doing for

as long as I can remember. It entails seven of us

piling onto a toboggan (probably actually meant

for three small children) and tying the toboggan to

the back of their pickup truck. We are then driven

around unplowed windy back roads. It is as dan-

gerous as it sounds, and I have childhood memo-

ries of my mother watching nervously with a

petrified look on her face from the back of the

pickup truck, as we were being pulled down the

hill. The worst part, however, is that if you fall off

you must run after the toboggan or you’ll be left in

the dust with a long walk back to the house. One

year I was unfortunate enough to slip off the back

of the toboggan, and in fear that I would be left

behind to walk the mile back to house, I ran for

dear life, grabbed the back of the toboggan and was

dragged for about 500 feet eating snow until finally

my brother Billy (after getting in his few laughs)

decided to help me back on. After this, we some-

times partake in some canoe sledding, which is

where we sled down a snow-covered hill in a canoe

trying to prevent a full on tree collision using only

paddles—and every so often, unfortunately, the

tree will come out victorious. Sure, I love the

bizarre traditions that my family and I celebrate

over Christmas, but there is something more to

why I love this holiday so much.

This summer, I applied for an internship with

the International Rescue Committee, whose mis-

sion is to bring aid to refugees and internally dis-

placed people overseas as well as to help the few

refugees who are permitted to resettle in the

United States. This organization provides housing,

food, employment, health care, and youth pro-

grams to resettled refugees. I was offered a position

as a teacher’s assistant at the summer youth pro-

gram in New York City. The purpose of this sum-

mer program was to prepare refugee children,

most of whom have had an interrupted formal

education, to attend New York City schools in the

fall. I was assigned to the middle-school class,

which included children ages 11-14. I was nervous.

I had remembered my middle-school years as ones

filled with much awkwardness. I didn’t know how

I was going to handle middle-school kids, espe-

cially ones who had been through so much and

who spoke very little English. However, this job

that I had taken to fill my summer turned into a

life-changing experience that has come to mean

a great deal to me.

One girl in particular named Ida left a great

impression on me. Ida was from Guinea and had

been resettled in the United States for a little over

a year. Ida and I formed an instant friendship, and

she quickly became one of my favorite people in

the class. Before she came to the United States, she

had been directly affected by the poverty the cor-

rupt government of Guinea had created. Up until

she resettled in the United States, the life she

described to me was full of hardship, uncertainty

and instability and it is hard to imagine how she

endured it.

One day, the children were given the task of

writing a paragraph about their favorite holidays

and reciting it. I was assigned to help a group of

five students and Ida was among them. When it

came to Ida’s turn, she talked about how Christmas

was one of her favorite holidays of the year. She

said that in Guinea it was hard for her and her

family to celebrate Christmas because of the


C H A P E L T A L K S

instability of the situation in her home country.

She said, however, that last year, on her first Christ-

mas in New York, her parents took her to see the

Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. She said it

was the most amazing tree and that she had never

seen a Christmas tree that big. She continued by

saying that before last year her family and she were

never able to exchange gifts or have a tree, and that

her Christmas last year in New York had been one

of the highlights of her year.

This story had a huge impact on me. It is hard

for me to imagine a Christmas where my family

and I do not have our annual Christmas traditions,

which include a tree, good food, presents, and even

“Mr. Toad.” This story from Ida made me appreci-

ate Christmas even more and made me realize the

main reason why this is my favorite time of year.

The holidays are a time when you are able to step

back and reflect and be grateful for what you have

among family and friends. It is also a time when it

is incredibly easy to give back with heightened

holiday cheer.

So as everyone anxiously awaits Christmas

break on the Hilltop and as we approach the busy

next two weeks, reflect and be grateful for every-

thing you have and consider giving back this holi-

day season even if it is only spreading holiday

cheer. Enjoy the traditions that this school has,

starting with Lessons and Carols and continuing

with the holiday formal and the Christmas Festival.

Enjoy decking the halls, lighting the Menorah and

what Johnny Mathis refers to in his song as “The

Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Have a great

Christmahanukwanzaakkah season. Thank you.

Alexandra Regan is a sixth former from New York City.

She can be reached at [email protected].

Alex and childrenfrom the Interna-tional Rescue Committee ham it up while playingin a park in NewYork City.


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Morgan in thechapel cloister.

BY MORGAN BEESON ’08

Following is a chapel talk delivered on Sept. 27,2007.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am

Morgan Beeson, most commonly referred to as

Beeson. I live in Connecticut, my mother works at

a well-known bank in New York City, I get pretty

good grades, am surprisingly not that stressed about

college, I have no major health issues, I laugh at

more jokes than should be laughed at, and I proba-

bly seem to have led a carefree and seamless life.

Let me prove you wrong.

Until I was eight years old, my life truly was

seamless. Then came the fall of third grade. It was a

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Lessons learned from his Amish relatives help this senior come to terms with a painful past

Forgiveness



school day and, as was customary, my mother left for

work early in the morning and my father dropped

my sister and me off at school. I proceeded through

the day, and at the end of it went to the school drive-

way to get picked up. After waiting for a while, my

sister and I decided instead to take the bus home,

not an uncommon decision. When we arrived at

home, we put our bags down and prepared to jok-

ingly beat up our dad for losing track of time. In his

absence we found a note written on yellow paper.

The only passage I remember from this note was

this: “I’ve failed you. I no longer belong here,” writ-

ten in my father’s messy handwriting. At the time I

could not comprehend what that meant. I went to

a family friend’s house that night, and when I re-

turned the next morning, I was greeted by a mix of

policemen and every relative I had ever met. Ironi-

cally, at the time I thought that was an ideal situa-

tion: I always wanted to be a cop, and I’d never been

able to see all of my family at the same time. How-

ever, even a third grader could feel the icy atmos-

phere in the house. As I walked into my living room

with my sister, everyone’s heads turned toward us,

only to turn away quickly, ashamed to show their

tears. I recall still not understanding what had hap-

pened, as I persisted in asking my mom, “Where’s

daddy?” She replied, “In heaven, Morgan. Daddy’s in

heaven.” It was only later that I discovered that he

killed himself. After that, everything seems a blur. I

honestly don’t even clearly remember the funeral

service; I was too filled with anger and confusion,

both at him for what he did, and at myself for not

foreseeing it and stopping it from happening.

The lesson I urge this community to take from

my talk is forgiveness. I could’ve gone, and did go for

a while, through life venting the anger at my father I

had trapped inside me, for causing my mom and sis-

ter so much pain. I could’ve blamed him for every-

thing that went wrong in our lives, but that would

have gotten me nowhere. Having been influenced by

Amish country(above): peaceful,rural and forgiving.


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the incredible forgiving ability of the Amish com-

munity, in which my mother grew up, I forgave him.

A couple days after my father’s death, my

mother saw two white doves hovering over my fa-

ther’s apple orchard in a flight path that resembled

a halo. From that moment on I not only gained my

faith, but I took it as a sign that everything would

be alright.

Forgiving my father for the tremendous sin that

he committed was a major milestone in my recovery

from his death, but there was one more person that

I needed to forgive before I could fully recover:

myself. While forgiving oneself only is necessary in

certain situations and with certain people, this situa-

tion most definitely called for it. I have the tendency

to blame myself more than anyone else. That being

said, you can imagine how much blame I took after

my father’s death. It took me a lot longer to forgive

myself, but reaching that milestone was equally im-

portant for me to move on.

Forgiveness can be a very difficult thing to grant

someone if they have done something wrong to you,

or even worse, to your family and loved ones, but I

assure you that you will both be a better person and

feel better about yourself for having the maturity to

do the right thing if you at least attempt to grant it.

Another powerful demonstration of forgiveness

occurred with the Amish last year. As many of you

know—it made headlines for several days on na-

tional television—a truck driver brutally murdered

five Amish schoolgirls ages 7-13, one of whom was

my cousin, in a town less than five miles from my

family’s farm in Lancaster County, Pa., and then

proceeded to kill himself. The first thing that the

Amish did was to set up a fund for the family that

the killer left behind. When interviewed by CNN, a

member of one of the Amish churches gave this

statement, which sums up very well the ideals the

Amish have with regard to forgiveness: “I don’t think

there’s anybody here who wants to do anything but

forgive and not only reach out to those who have

suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the

family of the man who committed these acts.” The

funeral procession purposefully drove by the killer’s

house to show their forgiveness of his sins. If we

could try to mirror the Amish community’s forgive-

ness, we could work toward creating, at least to a

small degree, a community with the same ideals of

the near-utopian society that the Amish have created

and continue to flourish in.

While my experiences with forgiveness provide

a strong example of how powerful it can be, my ex-

periences are also extreme. Forgiveness can be used

in daily life and, in fact, this is where it makes the

most difference.

If someone does something wrong to you, first

let them know that what they did was wrong and

that it cannot happen again, but make sure they

know that they are forgiven and will be granted

another chance. Forgiveness only works if the per-

son knows what they did was wrong, but using

anger to counteract their wrongdoing will only

spark more anger.

Through forgiveness, both the Amish and I have

been able to escape dark parts of our past and move

on from them without any lingering anger. I

strongly recommend that you all do the same so that

you, too, can move on from similarly dark situations.

Morgan Beeson is a senior from Greenwich, Conn. He

can be reached at [email protected].

Forgiveness can be used

in daily life and,

in fact, this

is where it makes

the most difference.




BY JEREMY GOLDSTEIN

Following is a chapel talk delivered on Nov. 15, 2007.

Today marks approximately the halfway point

between two great American traditions—Veterans

Day and Thanksgiving. And today, I want to talk to

you about what these two traditions mean to me.

My experience with war makes the act of giving

thanks extremely meaningful to me. I am especially

thankful for those who have made the ultimate

sacrifice and for those who have come back home

from conflict. And—I am thankful to be where I

am today.

I haven’t always been a teacher. In fact, my old

job had a lot to do with what happens when negoti-

ations stop, dialogue breaks down, and war is

believed to be the only option. My old job took me

ThankfulnessIn a war zone, nothing is taken for granted

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Jeremy Goldstein on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laosin 1997. Goldsteinworked for the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers directingexcavations to re cover the remains of personnel missing since theVietnam War foridentification.

to Vietnam and Laos, former war zones, with the

goal of bringing the war dead home.

In 1994, I was an archeology graduate student at

Wake Forest University when I received a job

announcement from the U. S. Army Corps of Engi-

neers looking for healthy civilians who were willing

to work in “rustic and remote” settings for “extended

periods of time.” I thought to myself, “Wow, this is

why I became an archeologist, a job in the jungle, the

great outdoors … adventure.” Less than a month

later I was walking through the jungles of Laos after

having fallen into a rice paddy my first day on the

job. My mission was to direct excavations or “digs”

to recover the remains of missing personnel from

the Vietnam War for identification. Sort of like CSI,

but much dirtier and less glamorous.

It takes a long time for the wounds and sting of

war to fade; even 25 years after the Vietnam War,

when I spent time in Southeast Asia the land had

not recovered. Many Americans were still missing.

One of them was a 1968 graduate of St. George’s

named Charles Dean for whom a scholarship has

been named here by his family. Ten years before I

started at SG, I worked on recovering the remains of

Americans who shared the same fate as Charles

Dean. As I look back on my time with the Corps of

Engineers, I find that my three years in Southeast

Asia have made me thankful for many things.

As simple as it sounds, one of those things was a

standard Army-issue quilted poncho liner. I received

“issue” from a large supply warehouse in Oahu,

Hawaii. I was given a mosquito net, a couple pairs of

boots, a field mess kit, some incredibly caustic bug

repellent that I think was DDT, and the most impor-

tant piece of equipment: that quilted poncho liner. I

remembered reading in Michael Herr’s excellent

book “Dispatches” about the author’s somewhat

embarrassing solitary moments in front of a mirror

wearing all of his new “free” stuff from the govern-

ment, in mock salute and at attention. I did the

same thing, ready to play Army. In reality, the only

thing I really needed was the poncho liner, because

of the way it kept me warm in the surprisingly cold

jungle nights and at high altitude during long flights

on uninsulated planes. I was lucky that I had a

friend, an old sergeant who had been around the

block a few times, rifle through my footlocker and

throw out the excess equipment. Thanks to Sergeant

Cope, I ended up with two poncho liners and the

advice to carry as many pairs of socks as possible.

I give thanks for the little gems of information

that my three years working with the military gave

me. Advice like, always shake your boots out before

putting them on, in case a scorpion has moved in.

Or, the advice to let the goats run through the mine-

field before you. You see a war leaves devastation

that lasts longer than a few years. Land mines and

unexploded bombs outnumber people in certain

areas of Laos, and people, mostly children, harvest

war scrap for resale and for personal use like fishing

weights. And people, mostly children, get killed or

injured when they handle these unexploded pieces

of history. I worked on a mountaintop in Northern

Laos that had a special regiment of goats who would

run ahead of the soldiers stationed there, setting off

any leftover trip wire mines, sacrificing themselves

to keep us relatively safe.

One of the kindest gestures that I have ever

experienced was when I was working on recovering

the remains of an escaped prisoner of war killed

while fleeing a remote jungle prison camp. He was

the one who didn’t make it, but his counterpart

made it and told the story, which is now immortal-

ized in the recent film “Rescue Dawn.” After inter-

viewing the individuals who buried the escapee, we

started to dig, digging for 30 days straight with no

results. And as we closed the site, and were wrapping

things up, a package arrived on one of the supply

helicopters. It was some homemade cookies from

the missing pilot’s mother, giving us pause, making

us think about our own families very far away, and

also the families of the missing that were waiting to

hear news still, many years after the war had ended.

There are many memories that I am thankful to

carry with me; helping to deliver a baby on the Ho

Chi Minh trail, living with a Hill Tribe for three

months, letters from my family every month, running

out of food and being forced to learn Lao to order

dinner. But most importantly, I have learned that

there is a reluctant fraternity of families, veterans, and



Jeremy Goldstein(above) with mem-bers of the boysvarsity soccer teamduring a game onAlumni of ColorWeekend.


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innocent bystanders who have survived war. We often

feel separated from the war that is going on right now.

We are removed from the sounds, smells, and sensory

overload that a war zone possesses because we are able

to watch it from the relative quiet of our living rooms.

It is easy to forget about the war when so many other

important things take up our days.

Veterans Day was last week and we are still at war.

Honor the men and women who serve this country in

uniform, and thank them when you see them. This

past summer, a 21-year-old Iraq war vet was out for a

day of boating with his friends at the kayak shop

where I was working. The vet was home on leave for

his birthday. As he was getting ready to get in the

water, he put on his life vest over a large scar that ran

the length of his chest and abdomen. As he put on the

vest, he said matter-of-factly, with a tinge of irony,

“feels like home” referring to the other vest—the

Kevlar one—that he had to wear in Iraq. I was speech-

less. All I could say was “thank you,” as his friends

looked at the ground or headed silently to their boats.

The young soldier looked out at the water, buckled his

vest, and paddled out into the channel.

So as I anticipate the time I’ll spend with my

family and friends during the upcoming break, I

hope to be thankful in a way that surpasses my usual

thankfulness. I often tell my students that people

who witnessed Pope John Paul in prayer swore that

he was praying with every cell in his body. This year,

I wish to give thanks with every cell in my body. I

give thanks for those who serve our country. I give

thanks for my family and friends and the relative

safety we enjoy here in the United States. I give

thanks for the cookies we have every day in the fac-

ulty room, the beautiful view of Second Beach that I

wake up to every morning. I give thanks for my wife

and my dog. I give thanks for the hope I hold that

someday we will be free from the shadow of war, and,

mostly, I give thanks for all of you—my students and

my colleagues—for giving me that hope.

Jeremy Goldstein is a teacher of French and

Religious Studies. He can be reached at Jeremy_

[email protected].


Community Service Council members WillO’Connor ’08 and Anna Mack ’09 organized a special

assembly announcement in December to

honor the school’s housekeeping staff.

The two students offered a few words of

thanks for all of the work that the staff

does for the community, notably the impressive holi-

day decorations that grace the campus every year.

“When we got back from Thanksgiving break and saw

how beautiful the decorations were, I talked to Mr.

Carrion (Director of Housekeeping) about getting

the members of the staff who put up the decorations

to assembly, so we as a school could thank them,”

O’Connor said. All the members of the housekeeping

staff were present. Everyone in attendance, including

most of the student body, then gave the staff a stand-

ing ovation. “It was moving to see!” reported Assis-

tant Chaplain and head of the Community Service

Council Lara Freeman.

Students Vianca Masucci, Sam George, KelseyCrowther and Hillary Wein, along with art teacherLisa Hansel, groundskeeper Jay Panaggio and Assis-tant Chaplain Lara Freeman, planted a box full of

tulips, crocuses and hyacinth next to the Meryl Staley

Bench on South Field overlooking Second Beach.

The bulbs were donated by Paul Jagger, father of

Meryl’s good friend Emily Jagger ’06, in memory ofMeryl ’06 who died of complications from leukemia

in 2005. “It will be a beautiful site in the spring and a

lovely way to remember one of the members of our

community,” Freeman said.

Joe Lanuez, a member of the Grounds Crew, waspart of the pit crew for Jim Gubelman’s (SG class of’65) race car staff. The car headed down to Oaxaca,

Mexico on Friday, Oct. 12, and the crew took school

supplies donated by members of the SG community

with them. Many folks contributed spiral notebooks,

pens, pencils and erasers—badly needed after a recent

hurricane tore apart several school buildings.

The fall blood drive took place on Monday, Nov.

12, in the Dorrance Field House—and St. George’s

community members came through as usual. The R.I.

Blood Bank had a goal of 35 pints, and once again, SG

had no problem meeting the challenge. Assistant Ath-

letic Director Wendy Drysdale organizes the blooddrives at SG.

For the sixth year in a row members of the SG Commu-nity took part in a day of community service on MartinLuther King Day, Jan. 21. More news on this event willbe forthcoming in the next Notes from the Hilltop.

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Members of the 2007-08 Community ServiceCouncil: (in the front row) Jake Riiska ’10,Carl Nightingale ’10, Vianca Masucci ’09,Lela Wulsin ’10, Ping Praneeprachachon ’10and Tori Hensel ’08, (middle row) MaryO’Connor ’11, Maggie Uhlein ’10, Englishteacher Lucy Goldstein, Jenny Chung ’09,Sophie Domanski ’11, Alexandria Regan ’08,Kelsey Crowther ’08, Ann Wheeler ’08, LaneyYang ’10, Caroline O’Connor ’10, Kim Drew’08, Callie McBreen ’09, Camilla deBraganca’09, Council Head Lara Freeman, CaseyHansel ’10, and (back row) Leigh Archer ’09,Merrill Pierce ’09, Jonathan Maio ’11, WillO’Connor ’08, Martin Ejiaku ’11, PatrickGuerriero ’09, Drew Miller ’09 and HalseyLandon ’09.


R E A C H I N G O U T T O O T H E R SCommunity Service

BY C. JOSEPH GOULD

Late in the summer of 2005, I decided to ask for a

sabbatical. I had lots of reasons for wanting to take a

leave. I had just returned from the first St. George’s

faculty trip to South Korea and China. It was my

eighth trip to Asia since 1996, but to me this 2005 trip

was a seminal event in the life of the school. I had also

just read Peter Hessler’s memoir “River Town” about

his two years in the Peace Corps in Fuling, China. The

book had conjured up old dreams and old memories

of my school days at Exeter in 1963 where first the

principal and then two long-serving teachers an-

nounced that they were leaving to join the newly cre-

ated Peace Corps. And, I guess my age had something

to do with it too; I would turn 60 in 2006, a milestone

which was prompting all sorts of introspection.

During that 2005 trip, I had visited Taejon Chris-

tian International School (TCIS) in Daejeon, South

Korea, as part of our ongoing effort to develop

teacher exchanges and other partnership arrange-

ments. A friend had urged me to go there because it

Joe Gould atOjeongdongSeongyosachon, amissionary’s homebuilt in the 1950s,near TCIS.

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A chance to reflect and refocus


C O M M U N I T Y M E M B E R S G E T A W O R L D V I E WGlobal outreach

Graduation day at TCIS on June 1,2007.

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had a boarding component. TCIS wasn’t in session,

but I toured the school and met briefly with head-

master Tom Penland.

Somehow, these disparate thoughts and experi-

ences came together. With the support of Head of

School Eric Peterson, I wrote to Tom Penland and

asked if TCIS would be interested in hosting my wife,

Jennifer, and me for all or part of the 2006-07 school

year. Two weeks later, Tom wrote back and said “yes.”

After considerable discussion with Jennifer, Eric, and

others, I decided that three months in the spring of

2007 would be best. Thus began nearly a year and a

half of anticipation and preparation.

One might think with all that time to plan and

dream, the trip itself might have been anticlimactic.

But in fact, not knowing what would be expected of

us at TCIS, we hadn’t planned much at all. We just

knew that we were departing on Korean Air #82 to

Seoul on March 14, and were coming home on Ko-

rean Air #81 on June 13.

I had dreamed, however.

I had dreamed we would travel and I read guide-

books with a passion: Moon Handbooks, Lonely

Planet, Insight Guides, Culture Shock. I had

dreamed that we would learn Korean and I was sure

that, once immersed, I would overcome my difficul-

ties with the CDs and cassettes. I had dreamed of all

the little adventures we’d have in Daejeon. Indeed

for months, my last thoughts before I fell asleep at

night were of the trip.

It’s funny how things can turn out for the better,

even from your wildest dreams. We traveled in Korea

and to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore,

China—twice—and to Japan. But the trips weren’t

as meaningful as I had imagined. We learned the

Korean alphabet and could read signs, which helped,

but we hardly learned the language. We had adven-

tures in Daejeon, but the city offered more chal-

lenges than sights.

I was right about something. Before we left home,

I remember saying that after two weeks in Korea we’d

be wondering what the heck we were doing there.

That turned out to be true. And then I’d said that

when it was time to leave, we’d be asking: “Where did

the time go?” That was true, too. In my last journal

entry of the trip, I wrote: “Of course, we’re excited

about going home, but part of us will stay behind at this

warm and caring school.”

Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries have

been in Korea since the 19th century; the Southern

Baptists arrived immediately after the Korean War,

when several other denominations also sent smaller

missions. In Daejeon (formerly “Taejon”), which is lo-

cated in the center of South Korea, the Presbyterians,


the Baptists, and the Methodists bought land and built

their missionary enclaves side-by-side. There, they cre-

ated their western (predominately American) world,

raised their families, and withdrew from their work

among the Koreans. In 1958, they founded “Taejon

Foreign School.” Its purpose was then, and remains so

today, to educate foreign students through high school

in a Christian environment. The “foreign”

students in those early days were primarily

mission kids.

In 1960, the trustees changed the name

of the school to “Korea Christian Academy.”

The teachers were almost all missionaries,

appointed and paid by their U.S. mission

boards. It was a very small school with

fewer than 100 students until the 1990s—

but by then things had begun to change

dramatically. What had been the missionary

“family” school was disappearing, due to

external forces. With the growth of Christianity in

Korea, the missions were redeploying their efforts to

other parts of the world. Korea itself had trans-

formed. The war-torn, impoverished country of the

1950s had risen from its agrarian roots into an indus-

trialized economic engine. Daejeon was emerging as

the country’s science center. And the environment

around the school was changing from rice fields to a

densely populated urban area. In 1992, the trustees

changed the name of the school again—to “Taejon

Christian International School.” By the mid-1990s,

the students were predominantly ethnic Koreans who

either held foreign passports or who had lived out-

side the country. The school was also “hiring” its

teachers and paying them. Now TCIS is a school of

more than 600 students, grades K-12. It is no longer a

western enclave removed from the world around it.

Instead, it seems to me, it carries on the missionary

work of its founders.

As liberal New Englanders, Jennifer and I were

skeptical about this Christian school at first. Mission-

aries to us were just historical figures. But we said to

ourselves that the spirituality of the school didn’t

matter. We were at TCIS to take a break, to “peek into

the tent,” so to speak, to use the school as a base for

our East Asian exploration, and to help with a project.

(I had agreed to counsel the school on a plan to estab-

lish a fund-raising program and to offer some ideas

for the school’s 50th anniversary in 2008.) So what if

every meal, and every bus trip, and every meeting

started with a prayer? Devotions and Bible study?

Whatever. They didn’t matter to us—or so we thought

those first few days.

But kindness did matter right from the start. The

Penlands, the Nelsons, the Suhses, the Wilders, the

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Suwon

DaejeonY E L L O WS E A E A S T

S E A

SEOUL

SOUTH KOREA

NORTH KOREA

JAPAN

DaeguPohang

Busan

Ulsan

Incheon Ullung-do

YosuMokpo

Gyeongju

Jeju-do

K O R E A S T R A I T



Jen Gould and kimchee pots nearTCIS. TCIS islocated in Daejeon.

Moimois, the Woods, the Levretses, Brian, Lee, Callie,

Becca, Mike, Jeff, Darren, and so many others em-

braced us. Boarding schools are warm nests for those

who stay for several years; but often the old-timers

don’t even bother to get to know those who just pass

through like us. TCIS was different. We thought we un-

derstood the reasons why. We were novelties, grandpar-

ent-types, and a long way from home in a strange land

like so many of the teachers. But then, how do you ex-

plain the warmth of Ms. Nam, Ms. In, Mr. Choi, Ms.

Lee, Ms. Kim, Ms. Bang, and so many others?

I enjoy Chapel at St. George’s. I listen most of the

time, and some things I hear I believe and some

things I don’t. But the pause in my week is always

welcome because the hymns, the readings, the ser-

mon and the environment help me refocus on what’s

important in life. So as I sat in on my first TCIS ad-

ministrative meeting somewhat aghast at the time

being spent on team building from a Christian per-

spective, I found myself thinking about how I could

do better with some of my colleagues at St. George’s.

That was just the beginning. Each day thereafter

throughout our stay, I’d use those many pauses for

prayers as moments to reflect and refocus. Perhaps, I

was praying too.

At the TCIS graduation near the end of our stay,

speaker Bryan Munson, a gifted English teacher, spoke

about “serendipity.” Quoting from Wikipedia, Bryan

told us that “serendipity is the effect by which one ac-

cidentally discovers something fortunate, especially

while looking for something else entirely.” Jennifer and

I spent many of our last days at TCIS talking about

our experience. We thought we had come simply to

have a home base for our East Asian travels. What had

really drawn us to TCIS, in Daejeon, South

Korea, for our sabbatical? We’d been asked the

question so many times by family and friends

that we’d wondered ourselves why we were

there. Was it just serendipity?

On our last Sunday, we took a long walk

along the river. It was a warm, sunny day and

we talked every step of the way. We were en-

gaged and in sync, almost as one, but I had the

feeling that we were not alone, as we tried to

put our sabbatical in perspective. Though we’d

loved the travel, it seemed then, and even now,

to be superficial. The essense of the experience had

been the school, its people, and its spirituality.

Serendipity, perhaps. But on that Sunday, at least, we

let go of our skepticism and … we believed.

Joe Gould is St. George’s assistant head of school for external affairs. He can be reached at

[email protected].

Top: Joe and Jennmake time to shop at Jagalchi Market in Busan. Above: Field of rape along the Yudeungcheon River in Daejeon.


C O M M U N I T Y M E M B E R S G E T A W O R L D V I E W

A St. George’s history teacher travels toChinese International School in Hong Kong

Transported

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BY LUCIA JACCACI

Following is a chapel talk delivered on Oct. 23. Ms. Jaccaci was introducing Mr. Leon Kandelaars, a humanities teacher from the Chinese InternationalSchool in Hong Kong who visited St. George’s for twoweeks in the fall.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce Mr. Kan-delaars and speak to you a bit about my experience in

the SG-CIS faculty exchange program. Asmany of you know, I traveled to CIS lastspring as part of an ongoing teacher ex-change that began two years ago when

Mr. Lewis went to Hong Kong and continued last fallwhen Dr. Hakim visited the Hilltop. The exchange isan invaluable chance for the two schools to learn fromone another, as on the surface the schools are ex-tremely different: While SG is a boarding high schoolof 350 students overlooking scenic Second Beach, CISis a large day school of 1,300 students, ranging from

Pre-K to Year 13 in the urban landscape of HongKong. And while SG follows an AP curriculum basedin the English language; CIS participates in the Inter-national Baccalaureate Program with a bilingual Eng-lish and Mandarin curriculum.

Mr. Leon Kandelaars, a member of the CIS Hu-manities department where he teaches economics andhistory classes, went particularly out of his way lastspring to welcome me to both China and his school.He gave me a memorable heritage history walkaround Hong Kong and allowed me to observe manyof his classes. I am forever indebted to him for hiskindness and the hospitality he showed me on my tripto his school.

For those of you who haven’t had the opportunityto meet Mr. Kandelaars yet, let me tell you a fewthings about this interesting and well-traveled man.His family is originally from Holland and they immi-grated to southern Australia, where he grew up withhis parents and three brothers in Adelaide. Like manyAussies, Mr. Kandelaars is a world traveler and has ex-



plored many corners of the globe, including travelingaround the states more than many of us in this room.He first started his career in international educationteaching in an international school in Frankfurt, Ger-many, before moving to Hong Kong 11 years ago tostart working at CIS. He and his wife, Eva, also haverecently bought a farmhouse in France that they arerenovating, so they spend good chunks of every sum-mer in Europe. To put it simply, Mr. Kandelaars is aman of the world.

And me, on the other hand, well, I am made ofless adventuresome fabric. Me? I am a woman of …Aquidneck Island, Yes, it is true—I am a townie. Bornand raised in Newport, it was not until my 10th gradeyear that I left Newport for any extended time— toattend boarding school in that far away land of Mas-sachusetts.

But, never fear, I returned to Rhode Island forcollege, and then after a brief stint of living inWyoming and Massachusetts again, I moved back toAquidneck Island 12 years ago. It turns out, however,that the decision to attend boarding school was a for-tuitous one for me. During this informative time, Iwas exposed to people from all over the world, and asmany of you now know from Mrs. Lewis’ clever fac-ulty crossword game from the first seated dinner, thisis also when I met Mr. Jaccaci. And, it has been as aresult of my relationship with him that I have traveledthrough much of Europe and different parts of Asia.Without him by my side continually pushing me outof my own comfort zone, I truly do not know if I everwould have witnessed the running of the bulls inPamplona, camped out overnight on a tower of theGreat Wall, or taken a particularly memorable 24-hour bus ride from Prague to London.

In retrospect, though, the decision to go toboarding school was, at the time, an extremely harddecision—to leave my friends, classmates and familyall behind. I still remember tears filling in my eyes as Iwatched my parents’ pull out of my dorm driveway,leaving me there waaaaaay up in the hinterland ofMassachusetts. But in the end, leaving my comfortzone of Aquidneck Island was ultimately rewarding inmore ways than I ever could have imagined. Similarly,last March, I was somewhat nervous for my trip toHong Kong and CIS. While the thought of immersingmyself in another school halfway around the worldhad seemed romantic and fun when I applied for theexchange, the actual reality of the experience sunk inas I said goodbye to my family and boarded the air-plane alone. What had I gotten myself into? I won-

dered. Why was I leaving comfortable and familiarNewport and my spring break behind to do this?What would I really gain from the experience? And,finally, would my three boys all survive the “two-weekboy party” that Mr. J was promising them would hap-pen once Mom left town?

Very quickly upon arriving in Hong Kong, myfears were allayed (much of which was due to the hos-pitality of Mr. Kandelaars and Dr. Hakim). And, al-though the schools on the surface were quitedifferent, the longer I was there I started to see moreof the similarities instead of the differences. Bothschools were filled with bright and motivated stu-dents and dedicated, committed and interesting fac-ulty. I learned so much from the CIS faculty aboutinternational education and the baccalaureate pro-gram, Chinese history and culture, and the complexrelationship between Hong Kong island and themainland Chinese government. Mr. Lewis had oncesaid this exchange was the best professional develop-ment experience of his life and after an inspiring twoweeks at CIS, I couldn’t agree more.

As teachers, I think it is important that we modelfor students what we hope for them to do. While thissounds great in theory, at times the reality can be quitehard. For instance, when Ms. Lonergan suggested somefaculty grow their hair for Locks for Love in solidaritywith the students, in theory it sounded great. The real-ity of Ms. Ducharme chopping my hair off with a bigpair of office scissors in front of the school—terrifying!Teachers are continually encouraging students to ex-pand their horizons and engage themselves with thelarger global community—to get out in the world byparticipating in international exchanges, doing globalcommunity service work or considering study abroad.As New York Times columnist and author ThomasFriedman has argued, our world has become increas-ingly flat and it is crucial that today’s students recog-nize the new realities of our increasingly global world.The CIS-SG faculty exchange is just one small way thatour schools and our faculties are embracing this newreality and are dedicating ourselves to learning fromone another and to sharing our enthusiasm for teach-ing. I personally have learned much from Mr. Kande-laars and look forward to continuing the partnershipbetween our two schools, and even more importantly,our friendship in the years to come.

Lucia Jaccaci is a history teacher at St. George’s. Shecan be reached at [email protected].



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People of the world

People of the world

28 ST. GEORGE ’ S 2 0 0 8 WINTER BULLET IN

BY LEON KANDELAARS

Following is a chapel talk delivered on Oct. 23.

Some years ago, my wife and I visited theZambesi in southern Africa, one of the great rivers of

the world. As the sun was setting oneevening, we cruised downstream on asmall flat-bottom boat with our guide andanother couple, university academics

from North Carolina. Keeping a safe distance fromthe hippos, we exchanged the usual pleasantries. A

lovely inquisitive couple, they asked many questions,as we did of them. The conversation went somethinglike this.

“Where do you come from?”“We live in Hong Kong.”“But you’re not Chinese, so where do you come

from originally?”“We’re from Australia.”“But your wife has a different accent!”“She was born in Poland, I was born in Australia,

but my parents migrated to Australia from Holland.”“Do you have children?”


29ST. GEORGE ’ S 2 0 0 8 WINTER BULLET IN

“Yes, a daughter.”“And where was she born?”“Germany.”After hearing this complicated introduction, the

professor then made a comment, “Doesn’t anyonejust come from Wisconsin these days?”

This reminded me of a similar question I asked ofa student at Frankfurt International School, where Ionce worked. He paused for a moment, not reallyknowing how to answer what I thought was a simplequestion: “Ben, where do you come from?” In aFrench accent, he said that his mother was English,his father was Dutch, and that the family had movedto Germany after spending most of his life in France.He spoke French to his English mother and English tohis Dutch father. Sociologists would identify him as a“third-culture kid,” a child who has spent a significantpart of his or her developmental years outside theparents’ culture, does not entirely fit into the host cul-ture, and does not have full ownership of any. This isthe world of international schools, where there maybe as many as 50 nationalities or more. The studentsat Chinese International School are not quite as di-verse as that, but the faculty at CIS is truly interna-tional. We have teachers from Britain, Ireland, theU.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines,India, Switzerland, France, Finland, Hungary, Russia,South Africa, and of course from China, Taiwan andHong Kong itself. The students themselves are mainlyHK Chinese and most are fluent in English and Can-tonese, and all must learn Mandarin as part of thecurriculum. On the whole, they speak English withAmerican accents and aspire to go to college in theUnited States, Britain, Canada and elsewhere. Only 10percent remain in Hong Kong itself to do furtherstudy. They are fluent in two languages and oftenthree. They put me to shame. I would also describethem as being bicultural, something they take forgranted. They move seamlessly from one culture toanother—and they are oblivious to it. There is sometruth to the hackneyed phrase ‘East meets West.’

Every year I take a group of students on a culturalheritage tour of Hong Kong. Dwarfed by the skyscrap-ers of Central Hong Kong is Man Mo Temple, a seem-ingly chaotic place of worship far removed from thequiet reverence of a Christian chapel like this. Thosewho practice Taoism often come here to pray before

the altar of the God of Literature, especially hopefulstudents preparing for exams. The elegant brass deeron the altar, which has a mushroom in its mouth, sym-bolizes immortality because deer are the only animalsthat can sniff out the fungi of the immortality. The de-scending lines of green roof tiles on the temple aremade to look like shafts of bamboo, symbolizinglongevity. Two lions cast from stone guard the entranceof the temple. These are enduring symbols of a culturethat predates anything found in Western civilization. Inmany villages of the New Territories, shrines to theEarth God still guard over the inhabitants, and the an-cestral hall is still the focus of village life. During theHungry Ghost Festival, it is a common sight to seeshopkeepers burning fake money in the streets to ap-pease wandering ghosts from the underworld. At CISitself a couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the Mid-Au-tumn Festival, another ancient Chinese custom.

No matter how much I appreciate the culture,and want to learn about it, I will always be looking infrom the outside. Living 12 years abroad, I sometimesfeel like a third-culture kid. When I visit my home-town of Adelaide in Australia, it feels very familiarand yet alien at the same time. I have changed with-out noticing. Shared experiences with some people Iused to know are diminishing, and I have more incommon with friends who are on the internationalcircuit of teaching. My life is not better; I have simplytaken a different path. My wife and I sometimes argueabout what country not to live in. For our next post-ing, I would like to stay in Asia, she would like to re-turn to Europe, but we may well compromise ongoing to a country in Africa. I have always loved his-tory, and my experience abroad has given me a fasci-nation with how countries see themselves and howthey acknowledge their past.

Hong Kong is going through an interesting transi-tion right now. Signifying the final chapter of colonial-ism, it is now 10 years since Britain returned HongKong’s sovereignty to China. Under what late Chineseleader Deng Xiaoping dubbed “one country, two sys-tems,” Hong Kong embarked upon the experiment ofthe 21st century—capitalism under the world’s biggestcommunist regime. The rule of the law and the inde-pendence of the judiciary, which are so vital to HongKong’s success, are being upheld. Essential rights andfreedoms are being protected, and challenges to them




fully and freely debated. However, they are not guaran-teed. It caused me to worry when I heard one of HongKong’s legislators say that history textbooks for schoolstudents should be vetted for patriotic content, espe-cially in content related to the Tiananmen Square inci-dent of 1989. It would be unpatriotic to call it amassacre. Fortunately, there was a huge outcry. TheCommunist Party is in power in China, but no one hasyet dared to write the obituary of communism. Newschool textbooks were introduced in Shanghai last yearand there is barely any mention of the disastrous effectsof the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.Mao for that matter is barely mentioned. What mattersnow is to sow a nation taking its rightful place in theworld. No country has changed as much as China in thelast generation. You only have to look at the city ofShenzhen just across the border from Hong Kong.Twenty-five years ago it was a sleepy town of 30,000. Asone of the original free economic zones of China, it hasnow grown into a mega-city of 10 million people.

History does matter, or why would so many gov-ernments try to change it? China has company in thedemocratic country of Japan. Starting in the 1980s, asconservative politicians have tried to restore pride andpatriotism in Japan, revisionists have become alarmedby what they perceive to be “foreign interference” intoJapan’s domestic issues such as textbook revisions.Failing to convince the horrified Chinese that theNanjing Massacre of 1937 was simply an “illusion,”they have shifted their attacks to the numbers of thoseactually “massacred.” What they would like to achieve,ultimately, is to remove a major blemish in Japan’s re-cent past. Australia also is still coming to terms withits past. It has been debated several times whether, as asign of national reconciliation, the Australian govern-ment should apologize to the “stolen generation” ofaboriginals who were taken from their parents to livewith white foster parents. This happened as late as the1960s. Massacres of aboriginals still took place in the20th century, and I never learned about them in schooltextbooks. Fortunately, that has now changed.

William Faulkner wrote, “The past isn’t dead; it’snot even past.” This was very apparent to my wife andI as we took the road less traveled in the Deep South.At the tourist information center in Charleston, wecame across two groups of Americans searching for avery different past. Instead of doing the Fort Sumtertour, where black faces were conspicuously absent, we

joined the black history tour of Charleston. We wereeyed suspiciously at first by the driver of the van whowas also the guide, but she eventually warmed up tous when she discovered that we were not American.The rest of the group was delightful from the begin-ning. Most were seeking their own heritage, and wediscovered that one island off the coast processedone-third of all American slaves. This was the Ellis Is-land of African Americans. On another occasion, Idragged my wife along, yet again, on another journeyof American memory that included a visit to Gettys-burg. I had just finished reading a book from DavidHorowitz called “Confederates in the Attic, Dispatchesfrom the Unfinished Civil War.” Wheeling down thesteep slope from Little Round Top, in the steps of theMain Regiment, we came across three guys, who onfirst appearance looked a little rough with their heav-ily tattooed arms. However, they were impeccably po-lite and, in order to greet us, one of them interruptedhis Herodotus-like epic account of the battle that hadraged there. He had finished wrapping his tonguearound the names of rebel generals like Braxton Braggand Juba Early. Shelby Foote, a historian from Ten-nessee, once said laconically: “Southerners are verystrange about that war.” History can be as much aboutthe present as it is about the past.

I am very impressed by attempts in the UnitedStates to keep a faithful record of the past. This lastsummer I did a teacher’s workshop at the NationalArchives in Washington, D.C., where I did research onPresident Nixon’s visit to China in 1972. Apart fromthe strict security arrangements, I had access to nearlyany document that I wanted to see. I read memos sentby Kissinger to the President, signed by Kissinger andannotated and underlined by Nixon. These were ac-tual documents, all stamped “secret” but now declas-sified. Unlike the Watergate tapes, these were alwaysintended to be part of the public record one day. Andit is open to all—even non-American citizens like my-self. However, such privileges should never be takenfor granted.

On public display at the National Archives, I sawthe Declaration of Independence, an inspirationaldocument that has become part of American scrip-ture. But is it enough to treat as sacred text? I remem-ber when Bob Woodward was interviewed on “60Minutes” about the 20th anniversary of PresidentNixon’s resignation in disgrace following the Water-


Another faculty trip to

Korea, China and possibly

Japan is planned

for this June, and

to prepare, teach-

ers are taking part

in a monthly reading group.

Director of Global Pro-

grams Tony Jaccaci has chosenseveral books for the group to

read, preparing several of the

members for what will be their

first trip to the East.

On the list so far: “Confu-

cius Lives Next Door,” by T.R.

Reid, “Lost Names,” by Richard

E. Kim, and “The Death of

Woman Wang,” by Jonathan D.

Spence.

Taking part in the trip this

year will be theater and English

teacher Betsy Durning, math

teachers Linda Evans and War-ren Williams, biology teacherHolly Williams, Dean of Fac-ulty and English teacher BobWeston, history and religiousstudies teacher Jeremy Gold-stein, and Art Department

Chair Mike Hansel. The grouphas been meeting since Octo-

ber. Look for a report on their

trip in the next winter Bulletin.

Faculty members will again head to the East


gate scandal. Prodding him, the interviewer askedWoodward, “You knew that many of the top executivesat the Washington Post thought that Watergate in itsearly reporting was insignificant, a non-story, but onethat potentially could have caused severe embarrass-ment for the newspaper. And yet you pursed it. Why?”

I remember Woodward’s steady and deliberate reply:“All good work is done in defiance of management.”

Put into context, Woodward’s comment suggeststhat it takes courage and conviction to ignore popularopinion in seeking the truth. In that same interview,he warned that democracy will always be a work inprogress and that you should never take it for granted.

Watergate was the culmination of enormous tur-moil in American history. From an outsider’s per-spective, I sense that the United States is goingthrough another major re-evaluation of its values,what it represents to the rest of the world and whatrole it should play in the post 9/11 world. Frankly, Iwas disturbed by the mood that I witnessed in personat a rally being held at Ground Zero in New York onthe day that American troops entered Baghdad. Thiswas the time when French fries were being namedFreedom fries. That mood seems to have shifted since.It is interesting how many times I have been asked atSt. George’s about how Americans are perceived inthe rest of the world. I can only give my opinion, butif St. George’s were a microcosm of American society,it would be outward looking, tolerant of diversity,and not afraid to disagree.

In closing, I would like to thank St. George’s forits generosity. Dr. (Dorothy) Hakim said that the peo-ple here would really look after me, but honestly thishas exceeded my expectations. I know now why Dr.Hakim still raves about St. George’s. I too will havevery fond memories of my experience here. Thankyou to all the people who have taken me out to din-ner nearly every night, even if you said that it was agood excuse to get off the Hilltop. I would like to givea special thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Jaccaci who wel-comed me so openly and smoothed the way everyday. And this was perhaps the biggest act of kindnessextended to me: I was not forced to choose betweenthe Red Sox and the Yankees.

Leon Kandelaars is a humanities teacher at the

Chinese International School in Hong Kong. He can

be reached at [email protected].

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Director of Global Programs Tony Jaccaci (back row, right) will lead a group of 10 students and three teachers on a research trip to Ugandain March. Pictured here are (in the front row) seniors Tori Hensel, Matt Bakios, Alex Merchant and Sofia Covarrubias, (in the middle row)Sasha Munn, Sophie Goodwin, Alia Eads, Alex Regan and Kathryn Connor, and (in the back row) faculty members Kevin Held and CarrieKelly. Missing from the photograph is student Will O’Connor ’08, who will also make the trip.



Ten students in Tony Jaccaci’s Global Seminar

class and four teachers will be leaving school on

Thursday, March 4, for a 12-day trip to

Uganda.

Students will use the research tools

they have studied—including economic, political

and conflict resolution analysis—to pursue per-

sonal research projects. The group will begin its

travels in Kampala and spend a week conducting

research primarily in the Nakasongola province.

The group will then travel to Murchison Falls to

see some of the country’s parks. The 10 students

will be accompanied by four teachers, two of

whom (Kevin Held, head of the Department of

Theater, Speech & Dance, and Assistant Librarian

Carrie Kelly) have been auditing the course since

September. During the last two months of the

school year, the students will combine their

research projects into a class report on Ugandan

development, Jaccaci said.


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visitors from the United States.

“They greet you and they all want to tell you

their names,” Halsey said, “and they proudly

showed us around the orphanage and the school

that is part of it.”

At the orphanage, the children ate mostly rice,

beans and corn, porridge for breakfast, and “lots of

bananas,” according to Halsey. Days were spent

teaching the children English, working on reading

and writing, sharing meals, and playing.

The Landons brought lots of items to donate—

clothes, books, art supplies and sports

equipment—and the children played loads of soc-

cer (which they were very good at) and many games.

The center hopes to expand in the near future,

and build new school facilities, all of which Halsey

said he’d like to help with. A member of SG’s Com-

munity Service Council, he hopes to organize fund

raising for the center back here at home.

Nonetheless, he remains committed to staying

connected to his new friends, all of whom he thinks

about often.

One of the African boys at the center named

Lowie, 7, gave Halsey a Christmas card with a

Polaroid photo of the two of them on the front.

“You get really close to them,” Halsey said.

“They were amazing.”

Landon family spendsthe holidaysvolunteering in Africa

Halsey Landon ’09 reads to Christopher and Joshua at the Living Waters Children’sCenter in Tanzania. Halsey and his family spent two weeks in Africa volunteering atthe orphanage.


It was a different kind of holiday break for

the Landon family.

Halsey Landon ’09, his mom Jennifer, his

dad Russ and his 15-year-old sister Chelsea

spent two weeks volunteering at the Living

Waters Children’s Center—an orphanage in

Arusha, Tanzania, in December.

The trip was organized by an international

volunteer organization based in Louisiana, and

the family members say it was a particularly

rewarding experience.

The Landons spent most of the trip living

with a host family who started Living Waters in

2004. There were 35 children at the orphanage,

many of whom had been abandoned due to

poverty or who had parents who had died from

diseases sich as malaria or complications from

AIDS. The children ranged in age from 4 to 14

and came from different parts of Tanzania and

Kenya, many from local tribes like the Masai.

Every child had a sad story as to why he or she

was there, but all were very happy to be at the

center and always supportive of each other as

though they were one big family.

Halsey said he intends to keep in touch

with several of the boys, who told poignant

stories of family hardships and illness. One

boy, a Masai, had been severely injured and

landed in the orphanage because the commu-

nity felt it wouldn’t be able to care for him.

It was Halsey’s first trip to Africa. The

family left from Boston, flew through Amster-

dam and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya. The first

part of their trip took them to the David

Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where they adopted

four elephants. This is an organization that

rescues injured elephants and rhinos that have

been abandoned by their herds.

Then they traveled from Nairobi to Arusha

on a long seven-hour bus ride.

When they arrived at Living Waters, Halsey

said, the children were overjoyed to receive


BY LAUREN O’HALLORAN ’10

Following is a journal entry written aboard Geronimo during the Fall 2007 trip.

When I was first accepted into the Geronimo pro-

gram I was slightly apprehensive about the voyage.

My grandmother had passed away from pancreatic

cancer over the winter when I had finally adjusted to

school. My family and I like to remember her for the

accomplished life she led as a school teacher and the

dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and role

model she was to each of us. The savory linguini and

clam sauce on Christmas Eve and the soft jingle of her

gold bracelets on her aged and sturdy wrist are just

fractions of my favorite memories of my grand-

Lauren O’Halloran’10, Anna Schroeder’09, Allie Barrows’10 and GeronimoSecond Mate RachelBahm make a stopat a local schoolduring the Fall 2007Geronimo trip.

There in spirit


N E W S F R O M G E R O N I M OOn board

While the boat wasin drydock, the fallGeronimo crewstopped for a photoat St. George Episco-pal Church inFlorida. Picturedabove: Tutti Davis’09, Lauren O’Hal-loran ’10, ThomasGrowney ’09, AnnaSchroeder ’09, Maddie Carrellas’09, Allie Barrows’10, Second MateRachel Bahm, NontJiarathanakul ’10,and First Mate PaulBostrum.


mother. She was a strong woman who never gave in

without a fight.

My grandfather, Tony, as my sisters and I call him,

loves to lounge poolside reading and reflecting after

long days without my grandmother. Being together

for nearly their whole lives, this transition has been

extremely painful and slow. As a family, we try to

bring back her spunky stubbornness in everything we

do, but nothing can ever replace the reality of spend-

ing moments with her in person. Memories are all

that we can hold onto and use to connect to her.

Sometimes, we try connecting with that person on a

more spiritual level through a message or reminder of

some sort. These reminders can come in the form of

your favorite sports team winning a title or the occa-

sional surprising coincidence. Coincidences like these

remind you that although that person isn’t there in

the flesh with you, they are still there in spirit, guiding

and supporting you in any way they can.

The sun began to set on a hazy June evening as

my grandfather rounded the leaf-scattered pool for

the last time before he returned back into the house.

He heard a small rustle in a nearby tree and at first

glance the tiny sound revealed nothing more than a

soft breeze whistling through the lush, green leaves. At

second glance, however, a small grey-feathered bird

darted across the branch. Tony thought nothing of it

until the same bird perched on the fence returned

each day for the rest of the summer. It never made a

noise, and always came alone, just puffed its pepper-

colored wings and darted its gaze around the yard. As

the weeks of the summer slowly passed, the bird still

came every morning and left every evening without

fail. My grandfather began to rely on that bird and he

waited for its visit each day. Watching it, he came to

be familiar with the bird and its mannerisms. He

began to be convinced that it was my grandmother

there to watch over him and our family. That summer

we planted a tree in her honor. The bird, sure enough,

found its perch on that tree. Ever since, I have had the

feeling that no matter what we do in life someone we

trust and love will always be there to watch over and

guide us through both the worst and best of times.

The Geronimo experience is a rare and extremely

unique one that can be, at times, an overwhelming

and difficult one. Family, to me is something that I

thrive on and value greatly. On Geronimo you are

separated from your biological family, and living in

such close quarters with the other seven members of

the crew, you are forced to gain a new family as well.

When my grandmother died, it was something that I

have never really experienced before and I miss her

more and more every day. When that bird arrived at

the pool it was truly something special to my entire

family. It stood as a symbol that we are never alone.

During our first sailing leg, the longest leg of our

journey to the Bahamas, from Block Island, R.I., to

Beaufort, N.C., my watch mates, Thomas (Growney)

and Maddie (Carrellas), became extremely seasick.

Their sickness forced me to be a one-person watch. I

had to be at the helm, plot positions, and cook our

meals single-handedly. They were my family during

this long period and without them I was struggling to

get through each day. With no one to talk to, I began

to think about other things such as my family at

home. At that point, my energy and will to keep push-

ing on and through was slowly dwindling, until one

afternoon while at the helm I spotted a small bird

struggling to fly. We were out in the open ocean at this

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point and the bird was in need of rest. However, the

bird was reluctant to reach for the boat and it contin-

ued to try to fly on. Finally, it gave in and found a

perch on the stern of the boat. I thought nothing of it

at first until I returned later that evening to find the

bird still perched in the same spot. It immediately be-

came apparent to me that this bird possessed the same

persona as my grandmother. The night air was crisp

and the stars were shining brightly against the clear

night sky as I proceeded to feed it trail mix and set out

a bowl of water. Its presence reminded me of my

grandmother’s strong will and courage to push

through. I now know that no matter where I am and

whatever obstacles and struggles may try to slow me

Third-, fourth- and fifth-form students now

have another opportunity to take part in the Geron-

imo program. A four-week course on

board the boat will be offered this sum-

mer from June 16 to July 14.

Upon successful completion of the

course, stu-

dents will be

granted ¼ ac-

ademic

credit—the

equivalent of

a half of a se-

mester-long

course taken

during the

regular school

year. Topics

covered will

include

oceanography,

marine biol-

ogy, marine

geology, mete-

orology, navigation and seamanship.

“We’re always asking ourselves, ‘How can we

get more kids on the water?’” said Geronimo Cap-

tain Deborah Hayes. “Being out on the water builds

character and perspective.”

Oftentimes, Hayes added, students become

stewards for the environment after they travel on

the ocean. “They’ll say, ‘Look at all that plastic

floating by,’” she said.

The audience for the summer trip will be stu-

dents who shy away from the regular school-year

trips because of other commitments, such as three-

sport athletes and students who are in AP classes,

according to

Hayes.

During

the trip, stu-

dents will

travel in west-

ern North At-

lantic and

coastal wa-

ters, with the

specific cruise

track deter-

mined by re-

search needs.

Applications

are available

through the

Geronimo of-

fice and students will pay only for the cost of travel

to and from the vessel and $150 to cover inciden-

tals.

The trip will be run as a pilot program this

year, with the hope that it may be run on an annual

basis in the future, Hayes said.

Geronimo of fers new summer program

N E W S F R O M G E R O N I M OOn board


down, I am never alone. I will never forget this

moment in my life and it will stand as a reminder to

anyone who is in need of a friend or the will to push

through that someone is always looking out for you.

Lauren O’Halloran is a fourth former from Middletown, R.I. She can be reached at

Lauren_O’[email protected].

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Above: Tori Hensel ’08 prepares a meal in the galleyfor the crew of Geronimo during a trip last summer.Right: Captain Deborah Hayes at the helm.

N E W S F R O M G E R O N I M O


Twelve students and

two teachers

headed to Hamp-

ton, N.H., on Jan. 8 to “get out

the vote” for Barack Obama. Members of the group, an official chap-

ter of the national Students for Barack Obama called “SG for Barack

Obama ’08,” went door-to-door to visit voters, made phone calls or

held signs outside polling places.

Senior Prefect Alex Merchant, who’s been on Obama e-mail lists

since last June, arranged the trip.

“I really liked his speech at the Democratic National Conven-

tion, and after reading about the sort of pragmatic way he handled

things both in the Illinois legislature and the U.S. Senate, that pretty

much sealed the deal,” he said of his decision to support the Demo-

cratic presidential candidate. “I think my support of him has really

been confirmed in the readings I have done about his trade and

economic philosophy, especially when contrasted with Edwards

or Clinton.

Accompanying Merchant on the New Hampshire visit were stu-

dents Lindsay Beck, Stockton Bullitt, Kathryn Connor, Luke Erder, Eileen FitzGerald, Tori Hensel,Nick Kiersted, Will Mason, Anna McConnell, Alex Merchant, West Resendes and Lela Wulsin and

faculty members Patricia Lothrop and Kevin Held.Merchant has high hopes for his candidate, even though he lost narrowly to fellow Democrat

Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.

“His large support from

Independents and Republi-

cans both in Iowa and New

Hampshire bodes well both

for the election and if he be-

comes president,” he said.

SG for Barack Obama ’08

started out as a Facebook

group this summer. Though

the campus has its share of

supporters for other candi-

dates, both Democrats and

Republicans, the Obama

group has been the most or-

ganized—so far.

Clockwise from the top left:Alex Merchant ’08 andstudents who worked on theObama campaign in NewHampshire were featured inthe Jan. 9 edition of theProvidence Journal; NickKiersted ’09 and AnnaMcConnell ’09 show theirsupport at the polls; AnnaMcConnell ’09, KathrynConnor ’08, Tori Hensel ’08,Alex Merchant ’08, LukeErder ’10, Lela Wulsin ’10,Will Mason ’08, Nick Kier-sted ’09, Lindsay Beck ’09,West Resendes ’08 andStockton Bullitt ’08 on thebus ride to New Hampshire. PH

OTO

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S T U D E N T A C H I E V E M E N T SHighlights


Laney Yang ’10 placed seventh out of 50 studentviolinists vying for a spot in the Rhode Island All-

State Youth Orchestra during a competition at Rhode

Island College in November. Yang played some Bach

and Brahms, as well as scales, during the audition.

She’ll now take center stage in some upcoming spring

performances.

Will Bruce ’08, Lauren Hilton ’10, Kinyette Hen-derson ’10 and Lara McLeod ’10 attended the StudentDiversity Leadership Conference in Boston, Mass.,

Nov. 29 through Dec. 1.

Hosted by the National Association of Independ-

ent Schools (NAIS), the Student Diversity Leadership

Conference is a multiracial, multicultural gathering of

student leaders in grades nine–12 from around the

country. It focuses on self-reflecting, forming allies,

and building community. Participants examine issues

of social justice, develop effective cross-cultural com-

munication skills, practice expression through the

arts, and learn networking principles and strategies.

Twenty-six students—one student from each his-

tory class—made it to the semifinal round of the All-

School Presidential Debate, which took place on Jan.

10, and six students made it to the finals. The semifi-

nalists were asked to take on the role of either one of

the Republican campaign frontrunners—Rudy

Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain or Mike

Huckabee—or one of the Democratic frontrunners—

John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama or

Hillary Clinton.

“We tried to keep it as simple for the students

to prepare for as possible since they were gearing

up for mid-term exams in January,” said debate

organizer and History Department Chair Deb Foppert. “So we kept to a set number of Republi-

cans and Democrats and we picked those who

were front-runners at the time and/or those whom

the students had shown an interest in during their

preliminary rounds.”

Molly Boyd ’10, Hendrik Kits van Heyningen ’10,Paula Pimentel ’09, Alex Merchant ’08, Matt Bakios’08 and Selena Elmer ’08 emerged as victorious in the

second round.

The all-school debate, which usually takes place

just before Spring Break in March, was moved up this

year to take advantage of the heightened interest in

the national campaign.

The debate final is scheduled to be held Feb. 7.

Matt Bakios ’08,Morgan Beeson ’08,Clay Davis ’09 andLinda Lho ’08 participate in the semi-final round of the All-School Presidental Debate,which took place in January.

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S T U D E N T A C H I E V E M E N T S


DRESS DOWN DAY NEWS:Along with a successful Dress Down Day on Oct.

12, the girls’ varsity soccer team raised money for

KickAIDS, a group that educates Africans about HIV

and AIDS through the use of soccer, by hosting a

“Juggle-Off.”

The team challenged other girls’ soccer teams in

the ISL to a soccer skills contest, and four other teams

in the league and Governor’s Academy, Brooks,

BB&N and Lawrence Academy participated. The

teams began by averaging the number of juggles it

could complete in a 10-minute window at the begin-

ning of the season (a “juggle” counts as a touch on the

ball off the player’s body, except the hands, without

the ball touching the ground). The challenge then had

three categories: the most juggles, the largest number

of juggles improved from the beginning to the end of

the season, and the most money raised. CarolineRindlaub ’08 coordinated the SG team efforts. The

girls completed their challenge on Nov. 8, and the

results were fantastic, according to head coach Tony Jaccaci. The SG team registered 57 juggles on average,

a 26-touch improvement from the beginning of the

season, and in total, raised more than $1,800.

On Friday, Nov. 2, Will O’Connor ’08 helped or-ganize a Dress Down Day for the Potter League for

Animals, a local animal shelter. Several SG faculty

members received their pets from the shelter.

A Dress Down Day on Nov. 30 and individual

donations, as well as donations from the Board of

Trustees, helped raise hundreds of dollars for an

adolescent group home supported by Newport Child

& Family Services. “We were able to buy a wonderful

amount for the 12 young adults we ‘adopted,’” Assis-

tant Librarian Carrie Kelly told the community. The

money was used to purchase requested items such

as iPod Shuffles, a microwave, a bike, winter jackets,

hooded sweatshirts, socks, hats, gloves, and gift cards.

Kelsey Crowther ’08, Polly Murray ’10, Ann Wheeler’08, Katie McCormack ’11 and history teacher LuciaJaccaci helped organize the fund-raising efforts.

College Acceptances (as of Jan. 10)

Following is the list of colleges that have accepted SG seniors in either the early-admission or early-action process:

Early DecisionBarnard College - 1Bates College - 1

Boston University - 1Bucknell University - 2Columbia University - 1Connecticut College - 2Cornell University - 1Duke University - 1Elon University - 1

Gettysburg College - 1Hamilton College - 2

Johns Hopkins University - 1Lehigh University - 1

Mount Holyoke College - 1Skidmore College - 1

Stevens Institute of Technology - 1Trinity College - 1Tufts University - 1

University of Pennsylvania - 1University of Richmond - 1Vanderbilt University - 1Wake Forest University - 3Wesleyan University - 1Williams College - 1

Early ActionBabson College - 3Boston College - 1

College of Charleston - 5Cornell College - 1Drexel University - 1Elmira College - 1Elon University - 1

Fordham University - 1Franklin College Switzerland - 1

Georgetown University - 2Howard University - 1

Northeastern University - 3Roanoke College - 1

Southern Methodist University - 2Temple University - 1

Texas Christian University - 1Tulane University - 1

University of Chicago - 1University of Denver - 1University of Maine - 1

University of San Francisco - 1University of Vermont - 3Washington College - 1

University of Colorado at Boulder - 2University of Mississippi - 1


S T U D E N T A C H I E V E M E N T SHighlights


On Thursday, Dec. 13, the day before students left

on the holiday break, Sam Redway ’09, Sophie Good-win ’08 and Claire Kudenholdt ’10 helped organize aDress Down Day to raise money for the Schools for

Schools program, sponsored by the Invisible Children

organization, to generate funds for war-affected

schools in northern Uganda.

And on Friday, Jan. 11, a Dress Down Day was

held to raise money for Asociación SOLAC, a non-

profit organization founded by students of the Pontifi-

cia Universidad Católica del Perú that focuses on

social and economic development/improvement in

Lima as well as its surrounding areas. A devastating

earthquake in August struck 95 miles southeast of

Lima, killing 519 people and injuring more than

1,800. After the tragedy, SOLAC took on the task of

helping the smaller and harder to reach communities

on the outskirts of the city. Spanish teacher AnthonyPerry spearheaded the efforts for the Dress Down Day.

Sophie Goodwin ’08 attended the month-long

Spoleto Study Abroad program this past summer,

visiting cultural centers in Siena, Florence, Assisi,

Tivoli and other medieval hill towns in Central Italy.

The program, an international program co-spon-

sored by a consortium of independent American

schools, is for students, ages 15-19, interested in

vocal music, visual arts, photography, film and in-

strumental/chamber music.

Alex Layton ’09 was honored at a Rhode IslandMake-A-Wish event last fall for his decision to donate

the proceeds from his Fire Fly CD to the organization

that arranges special experiences for children with

life-threatening illnesses. Alex sold his CDs through

the St. George’s bookstore. Layton performed for a

large group that included Make-A-Wish board mem-

bers, supporters, Make-A-Wish children and friends

of the organization. He played cover songs, as well as

a few songs that he himself wrote last year.

The Mock Trial Team had their first trial Monday,

Dec. 3, at the Murray Courthouse in Newport. Acting

as lawyers were Sophie Goodwin ’08, Clay Davis ’09and Logan Hoover ’09. And acting as witnesses wereSophia Noel ’09, Si Min Yun ’09 and George Williams’09. The team argued the plaintiff ’s case and the pre-

siding judge was Judge Erickson, whose daughter

Althea graduated in 1998.

Sophie Goodwin ’08spent a month thispast summer studying art inCentral Italy.

S T U D E N T A C H I E V E M E N T S

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Lisa Hansel distributes sketchbooks to students in the architecture class.

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Bob Wein addresses his physics class.

ClassroomsL E A R N I N G O N — A N D O F F — T H E H I L L T O P


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Hillary Wein ’11 studies in the library.

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Ed McGinnis uses an interactive whiteboard to teach his mathematics class. SMART Board technology is now available in most classrooms.


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Charlie Fleming ’09, a student in SteveLeslie’s marine biology class harvests saltmarsh seeds in the fall.

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Members of Gary Cornog’s English class, Novels and Tales of the Sea, visited the New Bedford Whaling Museum Nov. 8 for a presentationon “Moby Dick.” Pictured here are seniors Peter Miller, George Gebelein, Sean O’Brien, Whit Curtin, Chris Swanson, Chris Fogg, MichaelMiller, Ben Bainbridge, Ashley Friend, Bennett Geyer, Morgan Beeson and Juan Flores at the Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford.



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Zhuo Lin Wang explains an assignmentto Lit Cao ’10 during Chinese class.

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Kathryn Lemay reviews the course syllabus with members of her photography class.


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Seniors Matt Bakios, Peter Johns,Kathryn Connor, Anna Mascarenhas and Ellie McDonaldreceive instructions for their assignment on “Beowulf ” fromAP English teacher Jeff Simpson.

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Students Tony Kim ’10, Si Yun ’09 and Alex Layton ’09 look on while chemistry teacher Pierre Yoo conducts an experiment.



Upcoming events and programs

For the winter musical, students will perform “Ok-

lahoma!” for the public and parents on March 1

at 7 p.m. and on March 2 at 2 p.m. Playing lead

roles will be: Alex Merchant (Curley), Will Bruce (Will

Parker), Will Mason (Jud Fry), Jason Andrews (Ali Hackim),

Peter Miller (Andrew Carnes), Ellie Myers (Laurey), Mar-garet Hawkins (Ado Annie), Allie Barrows (Aunt Eller),

Hailey Feldman (Gertie), and

Eileen FitzGerald (Dream

Laurey). Tickets may be re-

served by calling (401) 842-

6694 or e-mailing

[email protected]. All

seats are reserved. The admis-

sion charge is $5 per person

to benefit Camp Ramleh.

On Sunday, March 9, 14

of our students will be partic-

ipating in the Academic De-

cathlon, a national scholastic

competition, at the Commu-

nity College of Rhode Island

in Warwick. Eliza Foster ’08,Diatre Padilla ’09, BrianLowry ’08, Johnny Norfleet’09, Justin Hoffmann ’09,

Sarah Harrison ’09, LoganHoover ’09, SiMin Yun ’09, Jenny Chung ’09, Laney Yang ’10,

Juan Flores ’08, SoYoon Jun ’09, Ellie Myers ’08 and LeighArcher ’09 will match their wits in 10 categories against

other high school students. The theme for the 2007–2008

season is The Civil War.

The Mobile, Ala., affiliate of Habitat for Humanity will

be getting another visit from St. George’s folks in March.

Thirty SG community members—10 teachers and 20

students—will be heading back to the area to help build

homes for residents displaced after Hurricane Katrina. The

group heads out March 9 and returns on the 15th. “We

worked with Mobile’s Habitat affiliate last year, and had a

great time, and they asked us to return, so we were happy to

be able to,” said English teacher Lucy Goldstein, who with

her husband Jeremy, a French and religious studies teacher,

organized the trip. The students will work 8-4 every week-

day, and at night they’ll be staying in a volunteer dorm

at a church.

Eleven SG students and several faculty members will

spend four days in Washington, D.C. this spring in a special

program designed to enhance their understanding of the

American political process.

The program, which will take place March 9-13, is being

funded by the William S. R. Rogers Endowment for Public

Policy Studies, an initiative of Jeff Kimbell ’89.“My professional career is a direct result of Mr. Rogers’

‘White House’ class,”

said Kimbell, owner

of Jeffrey J. Kimbell

and Associates, a fed-

eral affairs and politi-

cal strategy firm

specializing in med-

ical technology, de-

vice, and health care

legislation. “By establishing this endowment, I hope to en-

sure that graduates of St. George’s recognize the importance

of public policy in Washington, D.C.”

Details are still being worked out, but the program will

likely feature visits to the White House, the Capitol, a televi-

sion news channel station, a party headquarters and a lobby-

ing firm, plus “discussions with various leaders involved in

the myriad aspects of public life in our nation’s capital,” ac-

cording to Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs

Pat Moss. Kimbell says he wants students to be able to experience

the effects of government on all businesses and industries.

“All U.S. citizens should understand how our representative

democracy truly operates and respect the unique brilliance of

such a system,” he said. “My hope is that through this endow-

ment, St. George’s students will share in a relevant policy ex-

perience and experience the excitement of Washington, D.C.”

Washington, D.C.

L E A R N I N G O N — A N D O F F — T H E H I L L T O PPH

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Dancers Stephanie Johnson’10, Elizabeth Bayne ’10and Oxy Nagornuka ’10prepare for the Marchperformances of “Oklahoma!,” this year’swinter musical.



Clockwise from top left: Lela Wulsin ’10 works on a charcoaldrawing in the arts center; Chase Uhlein ’08 completes a modelfor architecture class; Kate Woestemeyer ’09 finishes a drawingfor entry in the Scholastic Art Competition.

PHOTOS BY SUZANNE HADFIELD

C R E A T I V I T Y O N T H E H I L L T O PArts

The Rhode Island Scholastic Art Competition took place in January.Winners will be published in the nextNotes from the Hilltop newsletter.

Best of the arts


Above: Matt Bakios ’08 gets a moment in the spotlightduring a solo performance on Parents Weekend.Below: Members of the SG Jazz Ensemble SoYoon Jun ’09,Elizabeth Bayne ’10, John Park ’09 and Esi Ozemebhoya’11, impress the crowd on Parents Weekend.

The school’s new Digital Lab at the Drury/Grosvenor Art Center is apopular place for graphic artists and video editors, includingChristina Haack ’09 and Nam Hee Kim ’09 (foreground), heads of aclub called Pulchritudo that puts together videos of St. George’s eventsto sell to the community. Here, Haack and Kim use iMovie to addmusic to video footage from Middlesex Weekend.

Apple-filled computer labattracts budding filmmakers,digital artists

C R E A T I V I T Y O N T H E H I L L T O P

Generous donations from the Edward E. and Marie L.

Matthews Foundation, the family foundation of Russ Matthews

’87, have made professional-quality video editing available to

students with a gift for movie-making. State-of-the-art video

cameras, Apple’s Final Cut Pro video editing software and a fleet

of G-5 computers with cinema-display monitors were all pur-

chased with awards from the foundation over the last three years.

Matthews says he’s glad to help students who are drawn to

the video medium. While at St. George’s, he did an independent

study with fellow student Peter Brown, now an actor.

“It was my first big exposure to creating something visual like

that,” Matthews said. But he learned quickly he was making a

video, a project they called “Our Movie,” without many resources.

Matthews, now a principal with MOR Entertainment in Los

Angeles, says he wanted to help today’s students get a better start

in the field. “I trace my filmmaking roots back to SG,” he said. He

also said he will never forget a comment from his faculty advisor,

Phil Dickinson. “He said that Peter and I recognized that we

didn’t have a God-given right to an audience—that we had to

make something worth people’s while.

“I still keep that in mind.”PHOTO

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The 2007 Alumni/ae Hockey Game took place on Sunday, Dec. 9, and the veterans, who faced off against the boys varsity squad, won in ashootout. The alumni team—Tim Ghriskey ’73, Jerry Kirby ’74, Tim Lineaweaver ’75, James O’Brien ’75, John Corcoran ’78, Brett Sanidas’84, Steve Connett Jr. ’86, Ray Woishek ’89, Ryan Mulhern ’91, George Sargent ’00, Todd Curtin ’02, Cam Dyment ’04, Bryce Roberts ’05,Liam Chatterton ’06, Anthony Longo ’06, and math teachers Joe Elias and Marc Haskell—did get a little help though: Varsity team star goalieSean O’Brien ’08 was playing for them and made some incredible saves. The game, which had been a tradition, is slated to again become anannual event. Contact varsity coach Ryan Mulhern at [email protected] if you’re interested in playing at the end of this year.

A T H L E T I C D E P A R T M E N T N E W SSG Zone

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Varsity field hockey players Allie Conti ’08, Tori Curtis ’08, Courtney Jones’10, Jen Noesen ’08 and Eliza Foster ’08 ready for a play during a gameagainst Brooks in October.

Allie Conti ’08 in January became the first-ever

field hockey player from St. George’s to earn All-Re-

gion Team honors from the National Field Hockey

Coaches Association. Coach Kelly Richards made the

announcement in Assembly on Jan. 7. Conti, a team

captain who was named Most Valuable Player, heads

to Northeastern University this fall.

The St. George’s girls’ hockey team won its sec-

ond consecutive championship at the Howard Invita-

tional Tournament held at the SG’s Cabot/Harman

Ice Center on Dec. 15. The girls captured the title

with a 2-0 victory over Millbrook in the final game.

SG senior forward Rita Capaldi (4 goals, 2 assists)

Continued on the page 54


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Clockwise from the top: Varsity swimmers Teddy Collins ’09, Timon Watkins ’11and Drew Miller ’09 cheer on teammate Ollie Scholle ’08 in the 200 Medley Relay;Charleen Conlogue ’08 competes in the 500 Freestyle; Coach Tom Evans gives someadvice to his swimmers.

A T H L E T I C D E P A R T M E N T N E W S


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Clockwise from top left: Varsity soccer playerBridget Killeavy ’09; varsity football’s GalimahBaysah ’09; cross-country team member Lara McLeod ’10; the boys varsity hockey teamvisits the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto last summer.



BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRYGalvin Cross Country Award ........................................Bennett GeyerCross Country Coaches’ Cup .............................................Peter JohnsCross Country Most Improved.......................................Geoff PedrickAll-New England .............................................................Bennett GeyerAll-County............Bennett Geyer, Chris McCormack, Geoff PedrickCaptains-elect ..............................Chris McCormack, Dan Fortunato

GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRYGalvin Cross Country Award .....................................Kathryn ConnorCross Country Coaches’ Cup ...............................Charleen ConlogueCross Country Most Improved.......................................Allie BoyntonAll-ISL, first team.........................................................Kathryn ConnorProvidence Journal All-State .....................................Kathryn ConnorAll-County ..........Kathryn Connor, Sophie Domanski, Hillary WeinCaptain-elect..............Leigh Archer, Sarah Harrison, Eliza Richartz

FIELD HOCKEYWalsh Field Hockey Bowl.....................................................Allie ContiField Hockey Coaches’ Cup................................................Eliza FosterField Hockey Most Improved Player ..............................Ann WheelerAll-New England Tournament Team..................................Allie ContiAll-ISL, first team ..................................................................Allie ContiAll-ISL, honorable mention .................Eliza Foster, Ellie McDonald,

Leslie Muzzy, Charlotte DeaversProvidence Journal All-State...............................................Allie ContiNFHCA Academic All-American ......Ann Wheeler, Ellie McDonald,

Ali Fornell, Eliza FosterCaptains-elect ..........................................Leslie Muzzy, Merrill Pierce

FOOTBALLThayer Football Cup.....................................................Devin O’RourkeClaggett Football Award.................................................Bennett ByrdFootball Most Improved Player ........................................Brian LowryAll-New England ...................................Devin O’Rourke, Drew MillerAll-ISL. First team.................................Devin O’Rourke, Drew Miller,

Patrick Guerriero, Galimah Baysah, Kyle CorkeryAll-ISL, honorable mention .......................Peter Hahn, Doyle Stack,

Brian Lowry, Tom EvansProvidence Journal All-State ..............Devin O’Rourke, Drew MillerCaptains-elect .............................................Drew Miller, Doyle Stack,

Galimah Baysah, Pat Guerriero

BOYS’ SOCCERSoccer Most Valuable Player Award ................................Max FowlerSoccer Coaches’ Cup.......................................................Nick CarrellasMcElhinny Most Improved Award ..................................Ollie ScholleNEPSSA Senior All-Star Game ........................................Ollie Scholle,

(Parker Knisley nominated)All-ISL, first team.................................................................Max FowlerProvidence Journal All-State .............................................Max FowlerCaptains-elect.......................................................Carmen Boscia, TBA

GIRLS’ SOCCERSoccer Most Valuable Player Award ...........................Lindsay WhiteSoccer Coaches’ Cup.....................................................Lindsey BrooksSoccer Most Improved Player ..........................................Rita CapaldiAll-ISL, first team ............................................................Lindsay WhiteAll-ISL, honorable mention..........................................Lindsey BrooksProvidence Journal All-State ........................................Lindsay WhiteCaptains-elect ...........................Megan Leonhard, Maddie Carrellas

F A L L A T H L E T E S M A K E T H E I R M A R K20 0 7 S T . G E O R G E ’ S F A L L A T H L E T I C AW A R D S

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Max Fowler ’08 was the varsity soccer team’s M.V.P.

A T H L E T I C D E P A R T M E N T N E W S


Field hockey standoutAllie Conti ’08 willplay for NortheasternUniversity this fall.

was named tournament MVP. Senior captains AllieConti, Eliza Foster and Jamie Mey accepted the

championship plaque at center ice following the

game.

Meanwhile, Williston-Northampton claimed its

second consecutive championship at the tournament

with a 6-4 victory over BB&N. The Wildcats have won

the tourney four out of the past five seasons.

Football players Devin O’Rourke ’08, Drew Miller’09, soccer players Max Fowler ’09 and Lindsay White’08, and field hockey standout Allie Conti ’08 were

named Fall Independent School All-Stars by the Prov-

idence Journal in January.

Staff members for North East Sports Fitness and

Rehabilitation of Warwick, R.I., signed on to be St.

George’s strength and conditioning coaches for the

balance of this school year. They began their work

Monday, Jan. 14.

The coaches meet with athletes four days a week

from 2:15-6:15 p.m. whenever school is in session.

Their objective is to work with all of our athletes,

both with the teams and with individuals as well, ac-

cording to Athletic Director John Mackay. “What we

envision is that during the sports season, each team

will work out—doing exercises in speed, agility,

quickness, flexibility and strength—with them at least

once per week,” he said.

Time before 3 p.m. is being spent with individual

athletes, and NESF is also serving as a resource for SG

coaches.

Julien Greco ’06, a sophomore forward on

Goucher’s men’s soccer team, was named to the ESPN

The Magazine 2007 Academic All-District II College

Division Men’s Soccer Team in December.

The team is chosen by members of the College

Sports Information Directors of America.

Greco, who supplied the Gophers with eight goals

and four assists to lead the Landmark Conference in

points (20) during the regular season, currently car-

ries a 3.90 grade point average. He is a political sci-

ence and international relations major with a minor

in Spanish.

The women’s squash team at Middlebury College

has a strong SG connection. Two of the three captains

are SG grads: Ellie Buechner ’04 of Newport and SallyHatfield ’05 of Barrington, R.I.

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Continued from page 50


Nick Hare ’80, P’10, was the

recipient of the 2007 Philip Murray

Reynolds Volunteer of the Year Award,

presented annually to an outstanding

Annual Fund volunteer.

The award was given to Hare on

Dec. 7 at a gathering for the St.

George’s Board of Trustees at Merrick

House “for the incredible work he did

with his class,” according to Associate

Director of External Affairs Cindy

Martin.

Hare said he was so pleased with

his son Alex’s experience at St.

George’s and with all of the good

things that were happening at St.

George’s these days that he wanted to

give back to the school in any way he

could, so he signed on as class agent

last fall to fill the position that had

been vacant for a number of years.

With the belief that his class could do

better than its 31-percent participa-

tion in the Annual Fund the previous

year, he then set out on a mission to

reach the class, one by one, to tell

them about the importance of sup-

porting St. George’s. Hare worked

with the Development Office to estab-

lish a challenge match with one of the

generous members of his class. The

classmate would give at the Dragon

Society level ($11,450), but only if the

class achieved 50 percent participa-

tion. Hare, with the help of another

classmate, convinced several members

of the class to give. The final partici-

pation exceeded 51 percent, the high-

est of any class in the ’80s decade, and

established a new class “personal best.”

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Chair of the SG Board of Trustees Francis “Skip” Branin ’65 (left) and Head of School Eric Peterson (right) award the Volunteer of the Year Award to Nick Hare ’80 (center).

This new stained glass window, located on the west wall in the southwest corner of theantechapel, is a gift from the estate of MickeyMichel P’85, ’89. Like the other two lancetwindows in the antechapel, the Michel Window, installed last fall, was inspired by the Psalms, in this case Psalm 23.

Volunteer award goes to Nick Hare ’80

N E W S F R O M T H E A L U M N I / A E O F F I C EGiving back


The SG Board of Trustees voted unani mously

on Oct. 6 to elect Phoebe W. Muzzy P’06,

’09, ’11 to a three-year term.

Muzzy, of Houston, Texas, is an active volunteer in

the community. She graduated from St. John’s School

in 1974 and from Vanderbilt University in 1978.

She is a former trustee of St. John’s School and a

director of the family’s McCrea Foundation.

She and her mother, Phoebe Welsh, have hosted

several receptions in Houston for the school. And

she and her husband Gray, a partner with the law

firm of Bracewell & Giuliani, have been members

of the SG Parents Committee since 2002.

The board also voted to appoint Arthur F. “Port”Draper Jr. ’61 and Richard N. “Richie” Sayer ’65 ashonorary trustees. Draper, an architect who for

decades maintained Phillip Johnson’s Glass House

in New Canaan, Conn., was a trustee from 1980-

2007. He served as chair of the board’s Building and

Grounds Committee, which oversaw the construc-

Muzzy elected toSG Board of Trustees

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Newly elected board member Phoebe Muzzy P’06, ’09, ’11 (second from the left) with her children Leslie ’09, Everett ’11 and Crispin ’06.


N E W S F R O M T H E B O A R D O F T R U S T E E SBoard notes

tion of the Dorrance Field House, Merrick House,

Buell and Wheeler dormitories, Hoopes Squash

Center, Cabot/Harman Ice Center, Drury/Grosvenor

Center for the Arts, Hamblet Campus Center and

Hoyt Swimming Pool, as well as many renovation

and repair projects.

Sayer, a Newport lawyer who specializes in

estate, tax planning and business law, served on the

board from 1981-2007. He served on the Committee

on Trustees and the Finance Committee. A school

branding campaign, of which he was an avid

proponent, resulted in the school’s “Because the

Journey Matters” tagline.

Sayer graduated from the University of Pennsylva-

nia in 1969 and Suffolk University Law School in 1978.

The board formed two new committees at its

meeting in December—the Education Committee,

which will keep an eye on academic issues, and the

Student Life Committee, whose goal will be to track

the latest issues surrounding our students’ lives

outside the classroom. Trustee Bill Prescott, former

headmaster of the Wheeler School, was appointed

chair of the Education Committee and Bambie de la

Gueronniere was appointed chair of the Student

Life Committee.

St. George’s School is committed to fostering and mod-eling an ethic of environmental stewardship of the natural

world entrusted to us by God. We believe thatthis commitment is a critical component of theschool’s goal, expressed in our school missionstatement to graduate young people whose

“lives will be ones of constructive service” in a “complexchanging world.”

The St. George’s School community is dependent upona wide range of natural resources that sustain our lifeprocesses; we recognize our responsibility to preservethose resources, now and for the future. As an institution,we are committed to understanding the impact of our ac-tions on the environment, paying particular attention to the

use of our land, the construction and renovation of our facilities, our consumption of energy and other resources,and our choices of transportation.

Integral to our educational mission is the responsibil-ity to promote understanding and awareness of our relationto the natural world, both through our academic programsand in our daily habits and choices. Active learning, effec-tive sharing, and consistently sound environmental prac-tice will confirm our school’s success in achieving thismission. St. George’s School seeks to develop leaders in thestudy, practice, and promotion of ecological sustainabil-ity—“constructive service” of the most vital kind as ourgraduates confront the global environmental challenges of the 21st century.

The board adopted the following Sustainability Vision Statement at its meeting on Dec. 8, 2007:


N E W S F R O M T H E B O A R D O F T R U S T E E S


Home Athletic ContestsSaturday, May 17, 2008

Boys Varsity Lacrosse vs. St. Paul’s3:30 p.m. (North Field)

Boys J.V. Lacrosse vs. St. Paul’s3:30 p.m. (Cliff Field)

Varsity Softball vs. St. Paul’s3:30 p.m. (Softball Field)

Girls Varsity & J.V. Tennis vs. St. Paul’s3:30 p.m. (Upper & Lower Tennis Courts)

ST. GEORGE’S SCHOOL REUNION WEEKEND 2008

Mark your calendars for another great Reunion

Weekend in May, says Reunion Weekend coordinator

Ann Weston.

Scheduled events beginning Friday, May 16, are

many and of special note to reunion classes. As usual,

the weekend kicks off on Friday evening with the

presentation of the St. George’s distinguished alum-

nus/a award, the Diman Award. Following the Diman

Award presentation will be a welcome reception as

well as a variety of evening events for individual

reunion classes.

Saturday’s activities include Chapel tours with

Jack Doll ’52, class visits, student and faculty panel

discussions, a picnic lunch on the front lawn, assorted

home athletic events, and a formal dinner at the

Stephen P. Cabot and Archer Harman Ice Center.

Reunion class alums are encouraged to be on campus

Saturday night, May 17, for this festive dinner celebra-

tion in honor of all the reunion classes.

A special alumni/ae chapel service takes place on

Sunday morning, May 18.

Alums will be receiving an invitation to Reunion

Weekend events in early March, but for now, save

the dates—May 16-18. Please check online at

www.stgeorges.edu for reunion class hotel, weekend

schedule and special event information. You’ll be able to

register online after March for Reunion Weekend 2008.

Alumni/ae invitedback May 16-18

1938 • 70th

1943 • 65th

1948 • 60th

1953 • 55th

1958 • 50th

1963 • 45th

1968 • 40th

1973 • 35th

1978 • 30th

1983 • 25th

1988 • 20th

1993 • 15th

1998 • 10th

2003 • 5th

REUNION CL ASSES

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R E T U R N I N G T O T H E H I L L T O PReunion Weekend ’08


The dormitory currently referred to as Diman

North will be named Eccles Hall this spring in

memory of Willet L. Eccles, the fifth headmaster of

St. George’s School (1943-51), who is credited by a

generation to have “saved the school” during World

War II and the early post-war years when financial

constraints nearly forced its closure.

The open path between the Arden/Diman Quad

and the Hill Library in front of the dormitory, for-

merly occupied by Behrend Pool, which was demol-

ished this past summer, will now be called Behrend

Quadrangle.

Both dedication ceremonies will take place on

Saturday, May 17, at 11:45 a.m. as part of Reunion

Weekend.

Diman North dorm named in memory of former headmaster

The outdoor area once occupied by the Behrend Pool will be named Behrend Quad—and dedicated on Reunion Weekend.

Diman North Dormitory, in front of the library, will be namedEccles Hall, in memory of St. George’s fifth headm aster.

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R E T U R N I N G T O T H E H I L L T O P

Honorary trustee and 1961 grad Port Drapergot decked out in Barneys New York suit,

Dunhill shirt, Prada tie and Ermenegildo

Zegna shoes for a photo shoot featured in the June

2007 issue of Men’s Vogue. The magazine produced a

special series on iconic ar-

chitecture featuring Phillip

Johnson’s Glass House, for

which Draper, an architect,

has been a consultant for

years. “Johnson knew the

work was experimental, so

he just assumed there

would be problems,”

Draper told the magazine.

“But he never once com-

plained.” Draper also over-

saw construction of all the

buildings at Johnson’s es-

tate beginning in 1968.

Billy Bush ’90 got his chance to go up against thebig guys on Thursday, Jan. 10. He was a featured con-

testant on Fox’s “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”

The latest success of fine furnishings artist TedSturtevant ’96 was the subject of a Newport DailyNews article on Dec. 15. These days Ted is concentrat-

ing on concrete—cast concrete countertops, that is.

His company, E.G. Sturtevant LLC makes and installs

the countertops for both private and commercial cus-

tomers, including Scales & Shells on Thames Street.

Stephanie Wein ’06 was the subject of a profile inthe Newport Daily News on Aug. 11 for her environ-

mental activism. Wein, now a sophomore at Skidmore

College, attended a camp in Washington, D.C., last

summer called Change It ’07, an activist training pro-

gram led by Greenpeace designed to empower stu-

dents to become more socially active. Among the

change initiatives Wein has undertaken on her own:

an attempt to get Skidmore to stop using Kleenex tis-

sues because of their negative impact on the environ-

ment. “People would care if they were more

informed,” she told the news. “People don’t realize

how much power they have. Apathy is dangerous.”

Petra Pilgrim ’99 got a taste of celebrity when sherecently was tapped to pose for a poster promoting

Texas Tech University’s School of Medicine. The

poster features Pilgrim and a professor and advertises

the school’s “Training Tomorrow’s Physicians”

tagline. Pilgrim is in her third year of medical school

at Texas Tech and will graduate in 2010. She is con-

currently pursuing honors in cardiovascular research

and would ultimately like to do her residency in ei-

ther dermatology or psychiatry. “I am really enjoying

my lab research at the moment,” she says. “We are

currently working on a paper about how Cyto mega -

lovirus infection directly leads to cardiac inflamma-

tion (which translates into myocardial infarction) in

transplant patients and elderly patients. Other

than hanging out in the lab, I am constantly study-

ing! Or at least feeling guilty if I’m not studying!”

Ned Johnson ’96 is the developer of the propertyfor this year’s “Dream Home” featured on the HGTV

(Home and Garden Television) network. The devel-

opment features eight homes built on Plantation Key

in the northern section of the Florida Keys, and is

called The Shore at Islamorada.


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The June 2007 issue of Men’s Vogue featuredarchitect and honorary SG trustee PortDraper ’61.

A L U M N I / A E I N T H E N E W SPost Hilltop

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Hank Harder ’83 gets a welcome home from his children following his recent tour in Iraq. See p. 100 for more on his military service.


A L U M N I / A E I N T H E N E W S

Assistant Athletic Director Wendy Drysdale (left), andmath teacher Julie Butler (second from right) met upwith Debbie Edgar ’90, a member of the SG AthleticHall of Fame and winner of the SG Medal and MaryEustis Zane Cup, and Chris Tolan ’07 at a Los AngelesDodgers game last June.


Morgan Mandeville ’00 visited the Global StudiesClass in January. Seniors Alia Eads, AlexandriaRegan and Kathryn Connor listen as Mandevilletalks about how the nonprofit agency she works for, Revenue Watch Institute, helps governmentsmanage profits reaped from natural resources.

Sylvester Monroe ’69, a senior editor at Ebony magazine, went on a 10-day trip with former president Bill Clinton to gather material for apackage of stories in Ebony’s December 2007 edition. One highlight of the trip was meeting up with Nelson Mandela: “He remembered mefrom 17 years ago,” Monroe said. “I was the only African-American print journalist to interview him in Capetown on the day that he wasreleased from prison.”

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A L U M N I / A E I N T H E N E W SPost Hilltop


FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:Bill DouglasSt. George’s Planned [email protected] or (401) 842-6730Visit our web site at www.stgeorges.edu/plannedgiving

A wide variety of planned giving opportunities available to alumni/ae, parents and friends of St. George’s

OGDEN NASH SOCIET Y PROFILE:Jonathan L. King ’47

Wyckoff, N.J.

Planned gifts can be both personal in nature and a means of honoring your many connections to St. George’s

Jonathan L. King ’47 is an active and committed volunteer at St. George’s. He has dutifully served as class agent since the 1990s and

in 2005 he agreed also to take on the important role of class correspondent to help keep classmates in touch with the school and one

another. He last visited the Hilltop on Reunion Weekend in May of 2007 to observe the 60th reunion of his class.

Last year Father King, a retired Episcopal priest, informed the Alumni/ae Office that he had decided to include St.

George’s in his will, “…for personal, but also for family reasons.”

“I spent five of my most formative years at the school, beginning in September 1942 and culminating in

my being awarded the Frissell Prize at graduation in 1947 for having… ‘made the best use of (my) talents.’

I remember, fondly and gratefully, both longtime friends and my teachers, most notably Father H.

Martin P. Davidson and William A. Buell, to whom I paid tribute in the sermon I gave in the chapel

at my 50th reunion in 1997.”

Of particular note from Father King’s 50th reunion sermon was his observation that “…the most

enduring influence of this school is, I believe, its spirit, its values, its ideals, its understanding of what it

means to be a human being and the quality of the relationships that that understanding encourages…”

“But my devotion to the school also has a family basis. My beloved father, Frederic Rhinelander

King, was an early graduate (1904), a trustee for many years, and, as an architect, the designer of

Twenty House and of the World War II memorial plaque. In addition, my great-uncle, George Gor-

don King, gave King Hall, and my second cousin once removed, John Nicholas Brown, was the donor

of the chapel.

“These are the principal reasons why St. George’s is dear to me, and why I have for decades supported

the Annual Fund…”

With his planned gift, Father King will continue to contribute to SG even after his passing.

Jonathan King and his wife, Jacquie, live in Wyckoff, N.J. They are the parents of four children and have

10 grandchildren. Father King joined the Ogden Nash Society (ONS) in 2007. He may be reached through

the Alumni/ae Office or via e-mail at [email protected].

The ONS recognizes and honors those alumni/ae, parents and friends who have made special provisions to support the

school in their estate plans. To date, the society has 195 members.

Jonathan L. King


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Director of Operations George Staples expresses histhanks to painter Norbert Pacheco, who retired inNovember.

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Berta Encarnacao retired from her job as baker andbreakfast cook in King Hall after 25 years.

Director of Counseling & Health Educa-

tion Cheryl Jenkins will be a keynotespeaker at a conference at Hotchkiss

School this summer co-sponsored by the Independ-

ent School Gender Project. The conference, to be held

June 19-21, brings together schools from the United

States and Canada to talk and consider the results of

The Independent School Gender Project, a study of

the experiences of girls and women in independent

schools that began in 1995.Workshop topics include

Wellness and Health, Leadership Relationships,

Women and the Curriculum and Women’s Issues in

the World.

Jenkins will attend the conference for the third

time with two female faculty members and two

female students from St. George’s. The first such

conference was held in the summer of 2004.

This year’s new Director of Library

Services and Archives, Jen Tuleja, takes amodern twist on delivering information

by keeping a blog of library news avail-

able to the community. It can be found

at http://stgeorgeslibrary.blogspot.com.

Among other items, Tuleja gives her

picks for new fiction and new nonfiction

of the week.

Latin teacher George Briggs was electedto the executive board of the nonprofit

Coalition for the Advancement of Student

Activities (CASA) in November. The group

develops leadership education programs

and conferences for high-school students.

Daniel Tittle and Kristin Bove joined the KingHall staff this fall. Tittle, SG’s new dinner cook,

started his cooking for the U.S. Army as part of the

82nd Airborne division. From there he worked at

many Newport restaurants and recently was on the

staff at Salve Regina University.

Bove, our new utility person, comes to us from

Blue Rocks Catering where she was a kitchen aide

and waitress.

The school witnessed the departure of two long-

time staff members in November.

Berta Encarnacao, a baker and breakfast cook inKing Hall, traded in “her spatula and whisk for golf

clubs and the gentle breeze of Florida,” according to

Director of Dining Services Steve Moyer. Berta was

hired on Jan. 4, 1983. “For over a quarter century,

Berta has worked for dining services serving thou-

sands of students and alums with a smile on her face

and a passion for the Hilltop to match,” Moyer said.

“Her dedication and commitment to this great school

will surely be missed.”

Meanwhile, Norbert Pacheco, our “painter extra-ordinaire,” retired from the Hilltop on Nov. 30. Nor-

bert, a native of Portugal, came to St. George’s on

May 23, 1994.

Three faculty families have been sponsoring

International officers attending classes at the Naval

War College in Newport and their families this year.

Committed to exposing these foreign guests to

American culture, the War College recruits civilian

Director of Library Services andArchives Jen Tuleja’s blog.

Faculty/Staff Notes


volunteers to welcome the families to the Newport

area. This year, the families of Associate Director of

College Counseling Kelly Richards, History Depart-ment Chair Deb Foppert and Director of GlobalPrograms Tony Jaccaci and his wife, history teacherLucia Jaccaci are hosting officers from Senegal,Algeria and Pakistan, respectively. The guests have

been participating in the life of the school, attend-

ing dinners on campus as well as skating parties,

Halloween trick-or-treating events and the Christ-

mas Festival. This spring may even bring a cricket

demonstration, according to Jaccaci.

Chaplain interviewsunder way

Interviews got under way in January for

candidates applying for the position of school

chaplain, and it was hoped

an offer of employment

could be extended in Feb-

ruary, according to Dean

of Faculty Bob Weston.

The school continues

to seek an Episcopal priest

to serve as permanent

chaplain since the depar-

ture last summer of Father

Mark Pruitt, who served

the school from 1999.

The Rev. Christopher Epperson, rector of

St. Columba’s Chapel in Middletown, has been

serving as interim chaplain for this school year.

(His sermons at St. Columba’s can be found at

www.stcolumbaschapel.org.)

Among his or her many responsibilities, the

St. George’s chaplain will plan, conduct and

oversee two weekly chapel services; teach in the

Religious Studies department; offer pastoral

counseling and spiritual guidance to all mem-

bers of the school community; participate in the

residential life of the school; and assist in after-

noon activities.

The new chaplain will begin work in July.

The Rev. ChrisEpperson

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Left: Associate Director of College Counseling Kelly Richards and Kabir Sow of Senegal at the SG Skating Party. Kabir is the son of a student from the Naval War College, whichpairs international students with local host families.Right: Alia Al Abid and Ateeq Al Abid of Pakistan, with Krista Peterson and Head ofSchool Eric Peterson, at a dinner for sponsored families from the Naval War College.

A faculty “in service” day on Jan. 3 featured workshops on the use of

technology in the classroom organized by the SG Technology Depart-

ment. Math Department Chair Doug Lewis, Latin teacher

George Briggs, English teacher Kelly Richards, math teacher

Melanie Lewis, chemistry teacher Pierre Yoo, and Director of

Technology Charles Thompsonmade presentations on such

topics as using discuss boards in Blackboard, our web-based course

management software, to stimulate class discussion, and using a SMART

Board, an interactive white board, to present material and record class

lectures. Breakout sessions in the afternoon offered hands-on training.

Another in-service day is planned for March.

Teachers learn more about usingtechnology in the classroom


The community did an extra effective job

helping to raise funds for the Martin

Luther King Center in Newport this year.

Not only did students, teachers, staff and par-

ents help collect non-perishable food items during

the 23rd Annual Feed-A-Friend food drive, but a

thank-you note requesting extra help and distrib-

uted by the students

helped the MLK Center

get through a rough

fund-raising patch.

All in all, the center

put together about 1,300

holiday food baskets for

approximately 8,000

needy local residents.

The food drive took

place on Oct. 28.

Galimah Baysah ’09,Will Bruce ’08, and KimDrew ’08, heads of theInsight Club, helped or-

ganize a Kwanzaa cele-

bration at the home of faculty members James and

Kim Bullock on Sunday, Jan. 6. The celebration fo-

cused on traditional African values of family, com-

munity responsibility and self-improvement. Some

of the students were invited to learn more about the

celebration of Kwanzaa, which means “first fruits of

the harvest” in the African language Kiswahili, while

others said they’ve been celebrating the holiday at

home for years. A candle was lit and placed in the ki-

nara for each day of the week-long celebration. An

explanation of each principle was followed by pass-

ing a cup to represent unity and to offer libations to

honor the ancestors. The celebration ended with the

traditional enthusiastic “Harambe” chant for each of

the seven principles and a delicious soul food dinner.

Students in Betsy Durning’s Voice in Speech and

Acting performed A. R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” on

Sunday, Jan. 13, in the Main Common Room.

Featured were Kelly Bullock ’10 and JordanWatson ’10, Graham Anderson ’11 and MagdalenaFranze-Soeln ’11, Mack Feldman ’11 and KinyetteHenderson ’10, Wayne Chang ’11 and Oxy Nagor-nuka ’10, Will Mason ’08 and Lara McLeod ’10, and

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Members of the Handbell Choir, conducted by AssistantDirector of Athletics Wendy Drysdale, practice before theChristmas Festival.

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Campus happenings

Actor, writer and performer Steven Tejada performedselections from his one-man show “Boogie Down Jour-neys,” in Madeira Hall on Nov. 8. The appearance wasorganized by Director of Diversity Kim Bullock. The showcombines comedy, drama, and real emotions “to explorethe stories of struggle, survival, love and laughter thatemerge from the souls of Black and Latino men andwomen.” Here, Tejada signs autographs after his performance for Timon Watkins ’11, Polly Murray ’10 and Vianca Masucci ’09

Students in Betsy Durning’s Voice in Speech and Acting class performedselections from Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology” in the WheelerGarden for Halloween.


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Oxy Nagornuka ’10 was among a number of students toperform at the Rock Guild on Jan. 6.

Author Tina Brownoffers thoughts on journalism, womanhood

Tina Brown, bestselling author of “The Diana Chronicles”

and the former editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker maga-

zines, was the featured speaker at an all-school event sponsored

by the Women in Leadership Club Dec. 6.

Brown, whose career in magazine publishing began in Eng-

land when she took over the editorship of the British tabloid

glossy The Tatler, reflected on her career in journalism and op-

portunities for women.

Brown said she learned to take calculated risks in her career,

and to hire writers and photographers whom she admired and

depended upon. She also learned to expect jealously and criti-

cism. She was once called “Stalin in high heels.”

“But that one was correct,” she quipped.

Young people, notably young women, need to stand up for

themselves, she said.

“And believing in yourself is not the same as being arro-

gant,” she added.

At the time Brown said she was currently pondering what

her next project would be, but recently her publisher, Double-

day, announced she’ll be working on a book about Hillary and

Bill Clinton.

Brown is the mother of Isabel “Izzy” Evans, a fifth former.

Izzy Evans ’09 with her mom, author Tina Brown.

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Jake Shimmel ’10 and Harriet Manice ’08.In the play, two characters sit side-by-side read-

ing letters to each other about their lives—the high

points, the low points, the dreams and the disap-

pointments—while they were apart. In the end they

realize they were, in fact, love letters.

Red Key tour guides showing off King Hall have

been playing up the Hogwarts reference for years. So

when the Entertainment Committee

sponsored its first-ever Harry Potter Din-

ner on Friday, Nov. 16, it was a natural.

Each dorm was asked to create a

dorm banner to celebrate its home base. On the

menu: carved turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuff-

ing, cranberry sauce and apple pie.

Of course, Director of Dining Services SteveMoyer helped pull the event together.

Members of the Service to SG Community sec-

tion of the Community Service Council organized a

special assembly announcement to honor the

school’s custodial staff.

All members of the Housekeeping Department

were present.

Will O’Connor ’08 and Anna Mack ’09 offered afew words of thanks for all of the work that the staff

does for the community. Everyone present, includ-

ing the entire student body then gave the staff a

standing ovation. “It was moving to see!” reported

Assistant Chaplain and head of the Community

Service Council Lara Freeman.


Clockwise from top left: Alex Merchant ’08, Morgan Beeson ’08 and Mike Miller ’08; Ali Fornell ’08; Julia Oak ’10, Courtney Jones ’10, and Jesse Pacheco ’10; and Lydia Willie ’09.

PHOTOS BY ANDREA HANSEN

C H R I S T M A S F E S T I V A L 2 0 0 7Traditions


Clockwise from the top: Mariana Tellez ’08, Angus Anderson ’08, Stockton Bullitt ’08, and Alex Layton ’09; Eileen FitzGerald ’08 and Lacey Young ’08; and Head of School Eric Peterson and his wife, Krista.

C H R I S T M A S F E S T I V A L 2 0 0 7


Junior Phil Royer of Portsmouth, R.I., won the49th annual St. George’s Pie Race with a course

record time of 12:13 on Tuesday, Nov. 13. Royer

finished ahead of fellow junior Chris McCormack(12:40) of Newton, Mass., and sophomore MattMartyak (12:52) of Spotsylvania, Va., to win his thirdconsecutive Pie Race. Senior Antonio Diaz-Gonzalezof Mexico City was the first senior to cross the finish

line (14:30), while freshman Wayne Chang of Taipei,Taiwan, paced the freshman class with a time of

16:30. Eliza Richartz (15:50) of Old Lyme, Conn.,was the first female finisher, narrowly beating RitaCapaldi (15:52) of Montreal, who was the firstCanadian to finish the race. English teacher AlexMyers (13:30) was the first faculty finisher for thesecond year in a row. A total of 115 students, teach-

ers, staff members, faculty children, and dogs

finished the 2.2 mile race.

Founded in 1959 by former physics teacher and

track coach Ted Hersey as a lighthearted way ofboosting school spirit, the St. George’s Pie Race has

been run annually ever since. Runners typically wear

outlandish garb and attempt to outdo each other

with their zany antics. This year, for example, several

students dressed up as characters from the video

game Super Mario Brothers, two senior boys ran the

race dressed in gorilla suits, and one anonymous

student dressed as a dragon careened around the

race course in a golf cart. A quartet of freshmen,Katie Harris, Alice Johnson, Hillary Wein, and TaylorWilliams were awarded the coveted “Last RunnerFinishing Before Sundown in Cedar Rapids” Prize

with a remarkably slow time of 37:20.

Approximately 20 pies were awarded at a school

assembly on Friday, Nov. 16.

—Doug Lewis, Chair of the Math Department

Clockwise from thetop: The runners ofthe 49th Annual PieRace are off to agood start; WestResendes ’08 as St.George and WillMason ’08 as thedragon; Mario Partyof Seven includedLogan Hoover ’09,Mary Behan ’10,Alison Johnston ’09,Juan Flores ’08,Sophia Noel ’09,Diatre Padilla ’09and Katherine Pryor’09; seniors SeanO’Brien and ChrisFogg hide behindtheir gorilla suits.

P I E R A C E 2 0 0 7Traditions

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Former Art DepartmentChair Grosvenor to behonored by museum

Former students and friends are invited to attend a

summer gala organized by the Newport Art Museum to

honor former Art Department Chair Richard Grosvenor

(1953-1993) and his many contributions to the local

art community.

The event, called “A Picture Perfect Evening,” will be

held on Saturday, July 12, at Griswold House, 76 Bellevue

Ave., Newport, R.I.

The event will also mark Mr. Grosvenor’s 80th birthday.

For more information please contact Stasia Anthony

at (401) 848-8200.

E V E N T S A N D M I L E S T O N E SIn Brief

Kelly Bullock ’10, Jack Weston (son of Dean of Faculty BobWeston), Sam ’11, Will and Jake Peterson (sons of Head of SchoolEric Peterson) and Milan Boscia ’10 helped promote St. George’sduring Gibson Guitar Tennis Week at the Tennis Hall of Fame,which featured tennis champions John McEnroe and Todd Martin.


London readers get a nice view of SG

Fresh off attending this year’s Christmas festivitiesin the chapel, author and editor Tina Brown gave St.George’s a brilliant plug in the Dec. 12 edition of Lon-don’s The Spectator magazine. In her “New YorkDiary,” Brown writes, “If you’re looking for the old-style Yuletide celebration on this side of the ocean, thebest place to find it is at my daughter’s (co-ed) boardingschool, St. George’s, in Rhode Island. This idyllic edu-cational establishment perched on a cliff over the brac-ing New England sea has plenty of what I love aboutAmerica—its energy, its human variety, its sense ofpossibility—while still having the traditional flavour ofthe place (and state of mind) I’ve never quite stoppedthinking of as home. We chose the school in a hurry in2005 when Izzy, then 15, suddenly tired of Gossip Girllife at her all-girl day school in Manhattan. It’s turnedout to be one of our better family decisions. Services inthat soaring Gothic-style chapel … are such rousing,full-blooded celebrations of 19th-century Americancan-do-ism that they make me want to rush off and—Idon’t know—start a steamboat line, or become a mis-sionary, or drive a herd of longhorns on the ChisholmTrail. Izzy’s ‘Silent Night’ solo at the carol service wasonly one highlight in a last week of term filled with na-tivity pageants, Christmas feasts and percussive cele-brations of charitable giving.”

Now we’re really the darling across the pond.

Students from St. George’s and Liceo GalvaniSchool (Bologna, Italy) held a video conferencethis fall as part of St. George’s participation in aGlobal Issues project promoted by the NationalAssociation of Independent Schools. The 20-20program links together schools around the worldto investigate the “20 biggest challenges to human-ity with the next 20 years.” St. George’s was pairedwith Liceo Galvani to look at the issue of immi-gration. Ten members of the St. George’s Interna-tional Relations club met early in the morning inMemorial Schoolhouse and spoke with peer stu-dents from Italy for a little under an hour. Duringthe exchange, students introduced themselves andexplained why they felt immigration is an impor-tant issue in the future of global relations. The St.George’s students and their counterparts in Italywill continue their inquiry into immigrationissues through additional video conference calls aswell as blogging on a web site which has been setup by the two schools.

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E V E N T S A N D M I L E S T O N E SIn Brief

This new sign wasinstalled Sept. 12at DunlapWheeler Park(next to theAtlantic BeachClub at the bot-tom of the hill).The park isnamed in honor

of Anne Slater Dunlap, who served the town of Middletown in many volunteer capacities and is thelate mother of Rowena Dunlap Burke ’75, and AlanR. Wheeler, a history teacher at St. George’s for 45years, who was president of the MiddletownImprovement Association.

WANTEDA football letter sweater from the1940s or 1950s—to complete a

collection for the Gilbert Y. TavernerArchives. The sweater would be black with SG in red block letters. If you’d like to donate yours, please contact Jack Doll ’52 at [email protected] or (401) 842-6692.


Community members s ignnew honor code

The Dean of Students Office embarked on several

new initiatives this year to support the “Community,

Responsibility and Leadership” pillar of

the Strategic Plan. The office revamped

the orientation program in the fall so

that new students arrived on campus

earlier and took part in a more comprehensive open-

ing program.

The office also appointed “form deans,” faculty

advisors for each form. (English teacher Lucy Gold-stein is the third form dean, math teacher Joe Eliasis the fourth form dean, math teacher Melanie Lewisis the fifth form dean, and Dean of Students KatieTitus is the sixth form dean.)

In addition, a new revised and expanded Honor

Code was put into place this year that “calls on stu-

dents and faculty not to be passive in the face of im-

morality or dishonesty,”

according to Assistant Head of School for Student

Life Tim Richards.All faculty and students signed the code and

it’s posted in every dorm and every classroom.

“Those are all efforts to try to ingrain the concept

of honor into the fabric and the daily life of the

school,” he said.

For the first time ever, the dining hall in October

sent its used cooking oil to Newport Biodiesel, which

processes it into biodiesel to be used in place of fossil

fuels in cars. The school is also looking at the possi-

bility of purchasing a school vehicle that can run on

biodiesel fuel, according to Science Department chair

Steve Leslie, who also heads up the campus Sustain-ability Committee. “Instead of paying to add to the

waste stream, we are closing the loop, reducing waste,

and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels,” he said.


Young Family FarmLittle Compton, RI

Scratch FarmsProvidence, RI

Ferolbink FarmsPortsmouth, RI

Salisbury FarmNo. Scituate, RI

Wingover FarmsTiverton, RI

Ryan FarmCharlestown, RI

Schartner FarmsExeter, RI

Confreda FarmsCranston, RI

Wishing Stone FarmsLittle Compton, RI

Jaswell’s FarmSmithfield, RI

Sunset OrchardsNo. Scituate, RI

Urban Edge FarmCranston, RI

Pippin OrchardsCranston, RI

Quonset View FarmsPortsmouth, RI

Dame FarmJohnston, RI

Maplewood FarmsPortsmouth, RI

E V E N T S A N D M I L E S T O N E S

Local produce featured in King Hall

Vegetarians, especially, are delighted with the

latest efforts by the Dining Hall to use more pro-

duce from local farms. As part of a

campuswide sustainability effort,

Director of Dining Services SteveMoyer has been using fruits and

vegetables from suppliers close to home—saving

shipping costs and putting a fresher product on

the table. A list of those farms is below. But the

efforts haven’t stopped there: On one day last fall,

the vegetarian moussaka was chock full of egg-

plant grown on campus in compost manufac-

tured right here.


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S E E N O N T H E H I L L T O PAround Campus

A Committee on Multifaith/Interfaith Space was

established this fall to explore use of the Little Chapel

and other areas as space for either multifaith or inter-

faith worship services. After a series of meetings, the

members of the committee, who come from a number

of different religious/spiritual backgrounds, deemed

the Little Chapel a good potential space for some serv-

ices, but inadequate for all desired uses. They will look

toward recommendations from Sasaki and Associates,

designers of the new Master Plan, for further sugges-

tions on where services and meetings might be held.

Teachers Alex Myers, Lara Freeman, Kevin Held,

James Bullock, Peter Anderson, Linda Evans, Tony Jac-caci, and Jeremy Goldstein; Development Officer BillDouglas; and students Callie McBreen ’09, Izzy Evans’09, Emma Jansen ’08, Sophie Covarrubias ’08, andNam Hee Kim ’09 participated in the discussions.

The group will continue to meet after reviewing

the master plan, which was expected to be presented

to the SG Board of Trustees in February.

“Of particular interest are the diverse perspectives

people can bring to the table,” said Assistant Head of

School for Student Life Tim Richards, who’s chairingthe committee.

Multifaith/Interfaith Space Committee established

Tori Curtis ’08 uses the online catalogue in the Hill Library.


Students enjoy some down time in the Hamblet Campus Center.

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Chemistry teacher Pierre Yoo meets with third former Will Rosen in Dragon Quad.

S E E N O N T H E H I L L T O P


Want something fun from SG?

Call the bookstore at 1-401-842-6662 for these items and more, or visit our online store at www.stgeorges.edu

Under Armor Sweatshirt • BlackS - M - L - XL

$59

Key Rings • Assorted Styles$6

ST. GEORGE’SST. GEORGE’SWinter Bulletin2008

St. George’s SchoolP.O. Box 1910Newport, RI 02840-0190

Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Postage

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In this issue:Chapel talks:

The real magic of Christmas BY ALEXANDRIA REGAN ’08Forgiveness BY MORGAN BEESON ’08Thankfulness BY JEREMY GOLDSTEINTransported BY LUCIA JACCACI

People of the world BY LEON KANDELAARS

Signature altar window in chapel to be replaced


Q & A with the Director of Operations

New summer Geronimo program offered


Reunion Weekend 2008

Student achievements

News from the classrooms

Athletics, Arts and Community Service

Class Notes

Bulletin Winter 2008

Documents

Transcript of Bulletin Winter 2008