Philanthropy
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LA JOLLA COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL MAGAZINE 1926 WINTER 2021 1926WINTER 2021 LA JOLLA COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL MAGAZINE DAY LA JOLLA COUNTRY 2019–2020 Report on Giving INCLUDED INSIDE MARISSA ERICKSON ’21 LOVE LETTERS MIXED MEDIA “The message I want to convey through this piece is that many factors go into loving someone. However, often people focus on restrictions and definitions so much that this hinders what really matters, which is the human connection love offers. This message is conveyed through the text, representing some of the many factors that distract people from the possible connection with love itself. The out of focus hands communicate that when people focus on restrictions, they lose touch with what is most important, the human connection and ability to love. To make the background of this piece, I printed out various terms and definitions that restrict or hinder love and altered them before combining them into a collage inside a cardboard box. For the foreground, I sewed together the two hands. I photographed this sculpture to create the final artwork.” II | 1926 Winter 2021 | 01 A Word from the Head of School — Coming Together A crisis, especially one as unforeseen and devastating as COVID-19 the pandemic, can rock the foundation of a school. COMBATING Rather than being derailed by this crisis, our community CORONAVIRUS embraced the uncertainty and allowed our mission of preparing individuals for a lifetime of intellectual exploration, personal growth and social responsibility to guide us. 30 The human brain is programmed to narrow its focus in the face of a crisis. It’s an evolutionary survival mechanism designed for self-protection. In March 2020, when it was becoming clear that the highly contagious disease was spreading throughout our FEATURE REPORT ON GIVING nation, we expanded our view by connecting with infectious disease experts around the “ The world changed, nation and within our community. This proved to be invaluable. 30 2019–2020 and we had to Our faculty immediately established teams to determine the best practices of online Combating Coronavirus learning. Our faculty instinctively knew that intellectual exploration was essential to 45 A Letter from the Six alumni—Brook Mehregany Choulet ’11, Jordan Juarez ’13, Sarah Kaslow ’05, quickly adapt to anticipate and effectively shape an educational model for the rapidly changingCOVID -19 Head of School Chase Mertz ’11, Meredith Nevin ’00 and David Shaw ’14—help combat the greatest environment. Our staff explored the array of issues around living with a pandemic: They 46 A History of Giving take care of our public health crisis in our nation. Spanning from various positions and industries examined safety issues, technology limitations, and the physical, social and economic across the United States, they find purpose amid a pandemic to make a difference 48 Financials students.” health of our community. and contribute to their communities. 50 Greatest Need The world changed, and we had to quickly adapt to take care of our students. Personal growth was essential for the long-term success of every member of our community. 52 Blue Bash Giving Teachers adjusted their curricula, style of teaching, class dynamics and assessments while 54 Wellness Program preserving what was most important—relationships. Our faculty reinvented themselves, IN EVERY ISSUE 55 Community Support Fund and they did so with determination and grace. The staff reimagined a campus that would 56 Alumni Giving be outdoors and indoors with sustainable safety protocols. Everyone adjusted in some way. 02 A Word from the 28 Overheard Because of our innovative COVID-19 surveillance testing protocols, comprehensive Head of School Notable quotes 57 Programmatic Giving safety procedures and a far-reaching plan to bring back all of our students in fall 2020, 58 Our Donors 04 Social @LJCDS 38 Milestones LJCDS was recognized as a leader in healthy on-campus education. With this came a Alumni celebrations 70 Volunteers responsibility to share our work with the community. Social responsibility was at the 06 On Genesee Ave… 71 Ways to Give forefront of our work. The pioneering work of our school during COVID-19 has been shared Campus news and notes 40 1926 with schools across the nation, both public and private. We became a go-to place for Looking back at our history 72 Office of Philanthropy 20 …and Beyond practical knowledge for San Diego County and for local medical facilities on how to create Trending in alumni news 42 My Inspiration a safe campus for children to grow and thrive. Our efforts over the arc of the pandemic moved from running away fromCOVID -19 to understanding how to safely live with it. We learned, we grew, and we empowered others. We fulfilled our mission. EDITORIAL STAFF 1926 is published once a year by the La Jolla Country Day School marketing and communications department. If you’re Editor crEAtivE dirEction reading this online and wish to receive a copy or if you prefer Tiffany Truong Verso Design to opt out of receiving a mailed magazine, please contact [email protected]. AssociAtE Editors Onward Upward Rachel Baxter Magazine correspondence/editorial queries: photogrAphy [email protected] Jennifer Fogarty Rachel Baxter EditoriAl support Sandy Huffaker Alumni correspondence/change of address: [email protected] Joanne Bradley Stacy Keck Photography Follow us on social media: Katie Sigeti ’06 Jon Lyons IG: /LaJollaCountryDay Gary Krahn, Ph.D. Nadia Borowski Scott FB: /LaJollaCountryDay Head of School Tiffany Truong TW: /LJCDS Vimeo: /LaJollaCountryDay 02 | 1926 Winter 2021 | 03 Social @LJCDS INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK & TWITTER 5 1 3 2 4 6 1 3 5 Do you remember the feeling of returning Second-graders @LJCDS explored Students participated in cross-divisional to school after summer vacation? It’s such the essential question “Who am I?” by discussion groups using @factualitygame, a joyful moment! Kindergarten and first- creating self-portraits. an online experience in which students graders spent the day getting to know POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 explore structural inequality in the one another and going over the protocols. U.S., and workshops to discuss cultural It is so wonderful to have them back identifiers, including race and on campus. 4 gender identity. POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 POSTED ON NOVEMBER 06, 2020 Alexander ’30 has been working hard to build a Little Free Library for his 2 neighborhood. Made out of recycled 6 milk jugs and occasionally restocked with MS drama engaging in wordplay, handmade bookmarks, his library has Boston Moreland ’21 started Street Need, association, empowering voice, agency become quite popular. Check it out by an organization that provides accessible and more. Thank you, Robert Wagner searching the charter number (105736) first aid to San Diego homeless anywhere and Mike Peveich, for your leadership. at https://littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/. in the county. Since May, Street Need has FOLLOW LJCDS /LaJollaCountryDay /LaJollaCountryDay /LJCDS /LaJollaCountryDay POSTED ON NOVEMBER 13, 2020 POSTED ON JULY 30, 2020 assembled and provided hundreds of kits for the homeless. POSTED ON AUGUST 21, 2020 04 | 1926 Winter 2021 | 05 On Genesee Ave… Pillars of Safety in-person classes offered to students in the Middle School Five pillars of safety guided the reopening of campus: and Upper School, due to many mixing cohorts. The school hygiene, distancing, face coverings, screening and culture. expanded the cohort model and invested in technology to The school made significant investments—more than effectively conduct contact tracing should a community $2 million—in health and safety precautions, including a member test positive for COVID-19. COVID-19 testing program, increased cleaning and sanita- Despite the many challenges, mistakes were deemed as tion, added faculty/staff support, outdoor classroom setups, learning opportunities to doing what was best for students. facility upgrades, technology updates and more. In addition, “You become a whole as you collect all the pieces,” shares the launch of a Community Support Fund and dedicated Danice VonFeldt, Middle School humanities educator. “We greatest-need dollars from the annual Country Day Fund are a collection of many amazing people. The leadership supported families financially impacted byCOVID -19. allowed us to really embrace what it means to be a commu- Krahn and the board of trustees’ COVID-19 task force nity and to bring it forward. We’re not in a silo; the leaders continually stayed informed of new developments and listen and value opinions and feedback from everyone.” research to provide safe adjustments and refinements to By creating and embracing new norms, the school could enhance the learning experience. “We won’t have 100 successfully and safely conduct on-campus learning for percent of the information or even enough time to make the long term while the disease exists in the community. critical decisions, as information is evolving so rapidly,” “There are over 200 virus species that are known to infect says Krahn. “However, intellectual and ideological diversity humans, and we can assume there will be more in the future,” provide an effective compass duringCOVID -19. Our task shares Krahn. “We know we have control over how we react, force, partners at UC San Diego and community members adapt and take action with COVID-19 and all viruses. We helped lead us forward.” must use science and wisdom to learn to safely live with EDUCATION them.” —TIFFANY TRUONG Learning Together and Embracing Challenges Reopening School With so much uncertainty and newness, the school not only leaned on science-based research but also feedback from members of the community to continually refine its pro- cesses and protocols. “We were constantly asking questions, Amid covid-19 knowing all decisions and actions were about improving and enhancing,” says Colleen O’Boyle, assistant head of The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted lives and industries across the globe.