The Macduffie School U.S
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Prsrt Stnd The MacDuffie School U.S. Postage 66 School Street PAID Granby, MA 01033 Hartford CT Permit #2346 Please join us for student performances, athletics and other special events! MacDuffie Student Performers present The MacDuffie Theater presents Winter Music & Dance Concert Spring Musical Play Friday, December 13 at 7:00 p.m. TBA Admissions Open Houses Friday & Saturday, February 28 & March 1 Come for a tour of the Granby Campus. Performances at 7:30 p.m. Meet current students and faculty. Sunday, March 2 Sundays 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Admissions & Alumni Reception at 2:00 p.m. January 12, February 9 Matinee Performance at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Contact us to reserve complimentary matinee tickets. Speaker Series “Pig Latin, Ubbi-Dubbi, & the Cat’s Elbow: Secret Saturday, April 26 Languages as a Window on the Human Mind” MacDuffie’s John McCarthy, Professor, UMass Amherst 3rd Annual 5K Run Thursday, November 21, 7:00 p.m. International Student Festival “On Studying Film” Alumni Reunion Robin Blaetz, Professor, Mount Holyoke College and Tuesday, December 10, 7:00 p.m. Spring Music Concert “The Future of Healthcare & the Evolving Roles Contact us or visit our website for details. of Nurse Practitioners & Physicians Assistants” Robert Russell, Tufts University School of Medicine Tuesday, January 21, 7:00 p.m. Visit www.macduffie.org for the current season’s athletic schedule. The MacDuffie School The MacDuffie School magazine for alumni and friends Save the date! Reunion 2014 Saturday, April 26 Alumni News Watch for details coming soon on our website, Facebook page and in the mail. Faculty Feature Facilities Improvements Nominations are open for 2014 Distinguished Alumni and Young Alumni Awards. Student Spotlight Please contact Valerie Fontaine ([email protected]) or Dina Lyman (dlyman@ macduffie.org) with names of alums you would like to nominate. Commencement 2013 Traditions We look forward to seeing you at Reunion 2014! 00 Volume 5 Issue 1 Fall 2013 Athletics Update 00 Advisory Board The MacDuffie School In Memoriam: Dr. Harold F. Sheets Wayne Brewer Magazine for alumni and friends Two years ago, after my mother’s funeral, I found out that Dr. Sheets had passed away Managing Director Fall 2013 around Halloween, 2010. I found out because I finally decided to search him out via the Internet, with a desire to contact him and finally let him know what an important Craig Brewer Steven Griffin, Head of School teacher and mentor he had been to me during my years at MacDuffie in the mid-1980s. Director Unfortunately I was too late. Diana Lyman ’66, Dean of Boarding Life and Dal Swain Alumni Relations For me, he was a non-traditional teacher of Spanish and U.S. History, who encouraged Director students go out on extensive limbs in the tree canopy of ideas that exists in any Valerie Fontaine, Administrative Assistant, Deans’ Offices Steven Griffin discipline, and yes—he taught rigorous courses. There are times when I am reminded Head of School EDITOR of certain “ah-ha” moments I had in his classes at MacDuffie. Perhaps the strongest Linda Keating ’65, Editor of these occurred when the issues of slavery and civil rights came up in U.S. History. Thomas Addicks former Director of Admissions Among other things, he had gone south during college in the 1960s and participated Assistant Head of School in peaceful aspects of the civil rights movement. But what had the most impact on PHOTOGRAPHY Carole Bielizna me was that he presented some basic ideas of cross-cultural misunderstanding and Gabriel Cooney Business Manager miscommunication, including what is now understood to be psychological phenomena Beth Reynolds like bullying, oppression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which played roles in the David Denno Chi Huang ’14 centuries of this difficult theme in our history. This hit me like a ton of bricks. It made History and English Teacher Linda Keating ’65 so much sense to me then (and now), but I am continually surprised by how this is not Timothy Duff PLEASE CONTACT US realized or understood by some folks, even today. Headmaster, Pioneer Valley Christian The MacDuffie School Magazine School, Springfield MA Attn: Valerie Fontaine Beyond the sphere of teaching, I felt a trusting, supportive bond—and friendship—with The MacDuffie School Dr. Sheets. When hearing of his passing, I also found an article in The New York Times Danielle Williams 66 School Street that was written for him by a high school student of his before he came to MacDuffie, Dr. Class of 1994 Granby, MA 01033 Mark Dow. His words were so deep that I practically lost my balance; and it was clear 413-255-0000 Leslie Pitt Chehade that Dr. Sheets had been a mentor to him, as well. I could not believe how similar were Class of 1987 Or e-mail: [email protected] some of the memories we both had of Dr. Sheets as an inspiring high school teacher, but in different places. For example, “…Sheets loved to imitate in the air the gesture he Gina Placek The MacDuffie School is a coeducational college imagined an abstract expressionist painter was making on a canvas. He would enact Past Parent preparatory school for grades 6 – 12. it to inhabit it, an actor’s grimace on his face as he stilled himself for precision of the Nina Metz brushstroke, hand raised, standing on his tip-toes.” (You can see the rest at: http:// Contact Alex Seymour, Director of Day Admissions, Current Parent and Past Co-President of opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/span-a-remembrance/) Parents’ Association at [email protected] for more information. I was very saddened to hear of his passing, and I hope that he is at peace. Maria Aliberti Lubertazzi, Ph.D. ’88 To see the complete text of this Memoriam to Dr. Sheets, please visit the MacDuffie Alumni Facebook page. In Memoriam….. We fondly recall members of our community who have passed on. Pamela Pinckney DeFore McArthur ’55 of Spartansburg, South Carolina on July 31, 2013 Ann Colton Nussbaum ’59 MISSION of Essex, Connecticut on December 20, 2012 Patricia O’Koon Ernenwein ’61 of Newburgh, New York on August 12, 2013 The MacDuffie School is a rigorous college preparatory school Alison Brunell ’62 whose mission is to foster in all students the intellectual habits of Brooklyn, New York on July 24, 2013 of mind, high ethical standards and respect for diversity Gay Walsh Matteson ’63 required for becoming effective individuals in their personal of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts on June 5, 2013 and work lives and moral and responsible participants in the world beyond. Skyler Anderson-Coughlin ’15 of Springfield, MA on November 10, 2013 15 Amity Murray Spiegel University) and Ho Wing (Maggie) Wang Currently living in Fort Greene Brooklyn with ’07 (back to work in Hong Kong), Sai Ka Greetings from the Head of School husband Mike (just celebrating our eighth (Kathy) Lam ’05 and Sze Hau (Shelly) anniversary) and son Cole (3) who keeps me Tso ’05 (currently working in Hong Kong). Last year’s magazine focused on introducing alumni to the new MacDuffie campus in busy and active! I work as an esthetician at Granby. There have been myriad changes to the physical plant this year, including new Soho Sanctuary which I love, as well as doing ’07 roofs, two new ramps for accessibility, a new chemistry lab, and renovated and enlarged some mom blogging at New York Family.com. Amanda Keating spaces for art, music, dance and theatre. All told, we have spent $1.725 million on Latest blog took me to New York Fashion Week! 6 years (what?!) out of MacDuffie, and I’m capital improvements to the property since we moved here in July, 2011. I would love to hear from anyone from class of currently living in New York City with two close 1995 and hope we can see each other soon! friends and a cat named Maggie. I’ve been What are the results of these changes? You might say that “the more things change, the http://www.newyorkfamily.com/glam-mom-hair/ focusing on my playwriting career and have more they stay the same.” We have expanded opportunities for our students, and they produced a couple of my plays in Manhattan ’96 still receive the same excellent educational experience, within a caring community, for (“Roast” in photo) and Brooklyn. I also work which MacDuffie is renowned. Tasha Thompson Hillery for an arts non-profit, Fractured Atlas, helping Amanda Keating I’m currently living in West Chester, PA with artists with the logistical burdens of producing Orlando on vacation. Hope everyone is doing We have also instituted the “Head’s CIRCLE awards”. We use the acronym CIRCLE to my husband Tony, son TJ (5) and daughter their work. The major defining feature of my well and staying safe. capture and communicate the values that we seek to instill in our students: Community, new-found urban pseudo-adulthood? How Samantha (2). Integrity, Respect, Creativity, Leadership, and Excellence. The awards recognize Junior much time (and money) I spend on finding ’10 students who exemplify these values, and their names are engraved on plaques that ’03 (and probably not cooking) food. Cheers! Nina Lassonnier Hope my fellow alums are all well. hang outside my office. Tadd Lyman Some great news! I will be graduating from Tadd is a Captain in the 82nd Airborne college in May 2014 and already have a job This year, when we climbed Mount Holyoke as a community and returned to MacDuffie Benjamin Rosen stationed at Ft.