Parents’ Post A Newsletter for Parents and Friends of The Thacher School Fall 2001

RE-CREATION Dear Parents, So soon do fresh faces and names become Grandparents, and Friends: Sfamiliar that it’s difficult already to re- Each new school year here is launched by the Head’s member that the new kids on the block reading to the School Oliver Wendell Holmes’s The 1 ever were new. The 75 (a smut class Chambered Nautilus, his late 19th-century poem about per- of 57 and 18 joining the Class of ’03) come to the Ojai from alfalfa sonal development and spiritual evolution. On this year’s first , university towns, and day of classes, just as Head of School Michael Mulligan was gather- windy cities, from places as close ing up the various shells in his office and home to take to the Pergola as a faculty home on campus to so that new students could see for themselves those iridescent pearly those as far away as Singapore, chambers symbolic of such growth, the news came: terrorists had com- Yungaburra, and Hong Kong, and they bring special talents mandeered commercial aircraft and attacked the World Trade Center and and energy to our community. the Pentagon. When, an hour later, students, staff, and faculty were gath- We can sense already their salu- ered on the Pergola in the filtered morning sun, Mr. Mulligan held up a tary influence from the center nautilus and read the poem measuredly, paused, and then spoke briefly of campus out to all its corners about the events that had just transpired on the East Coast. More talk and beyond. Of the student body as a whole, a quarter receive finan- would follow later that day and in many days following–but for the cial aid; 22% are self-described as moment, a 113-year-old tradition kept us centered, reminded us students of color. Well over one third of why we are at Thacher and, perhaps, even, why we are on of the boarding population are from this earth, giving us some hope that while some things out of state, with Colorado and Illinois can be blown apart, others can cohere, can resist the contributing the highest number to the mix. Many in the School—129, in fact—are related forces of intentional dissolution, can repeat young to another enrolled student or to a graduate of and hold meaning one generation women Thacher, putting a different spin on the phrase “fam- after another. graduates— ily school.” Downright historic is this fact: matriculating and whose father, this fall as a freshman was the first child born to two CdeP2 Dave, and grandfather, grads: Will Oxley, whose mother, Marganne, was among the first Bruce, also earned Thacher diplomas. Connected in this particular way or not, the individuals who now comprise the 113th Thacher School are well on their way “to do[ing] the best work that [they] can,” in the exhortation of founder Sherman Day Thacher. And, as Mr. Mulligan concluded in his New Year’s Banquet speech, “When each of us does his or her best, starting now, something magical starts to happen: we become transformed, changed outwardly by an alchemy inside of ourselves that then, through our actions, begins to transform the world we live in. What starts in this school travels, through each of you, potentially far, far afield. And it has already begun.” 1smut: 9th grader, freshman; from campfire soot on faces when, on camping trips, the youngest students cleaned the pots 2CdeP: followed by a year indicates a graduate of Casa de Piedra (“House of Stone”), the original name of the and the School 2 :: Parents’Post

and their prefects and faculty camped), Santa Cruz Island (where WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE our campers worked on a water restoration project—and, seren- Choice way to start and end the dipitously, bore Cschool year at Thacher: pack up and Granted, [as the week goes on,] witness to the head off into the mountains, where the hiking gets easier and your recreation of the landscape itself offers particular pack gets lighter. At the same canoe-crossing solace and challenge and reminders of the channel by of our rightful place in the world. time, dirt gets embedded native Chumash, (Below, see photo of hikers atop a further into your skin, your the first in a cen- very big rock for visual proof.) Ex- fingernails fill with grime and tury), Kennedy posed to the elements at the summit Meadows and of a High Sierra peak, or tucked into your now-filthy hair can stand Jordan Hot a deep and shaded canyon of the Los completely on end. I always Springs, - Padres, our students regain perspec- return with a terrific number of shoe Meadows, tive while testing their muscles and the Kern River, trekking on where other Toadly fond memories. Montaña del Oro (riding on the beach—yeehaw!), Sequoia Katie Kuhl ’03 National Park, the John Muir , Evolution Valley, the Sespe River Wilderness, One of our most memorable Lake Sonoma, the feet have trod (and evenings involved watching the sunset Dick Smith Wilder- some blazing new ness, and Point trails). Routes and from an exposed campsite at 11,500 ft. Reyes. Three trips destinations this fall and seeing the sun and mountains melt pulled off trans- included Golden into the alpine lakes that comprised our Sierra hikes, each Trout Camp near Mt. covering around 70 Langley (the area horizon. miles during the five where all freshpeople Brian Pidduck CdeP ’92, days—no small feat Director of The Outdoor Program (even if some feet are small).

MAGNETIC Drawn to the Ojai and Thacher primarily from distant points are a Dlively and gifted crew. Megan and Jason Carney, from Boston, have joined the English Department and Admission Office, respectively, and are living with the upper class boys in Upper School. Megan earned her BA from Princeton University and her M.Ed. from Har- vard’s Graduate School of Education; Jason earned his undergrad- uate degree in History from Villanova University. Both are serving as advisors to boys; Jason will also pace the hardwood this winter as one of our basketball coaches. Also moving west to us from New England is Abby Davis, who has joined the Science Department. Her BA is Fall 2001 :: 3 from Bowdoin College where she majored in biology and minored AP Environmental Science, earned her BA at UC San Diego and her in chemistry; she has also studied at Harvard and the University Col- MA from San Diego State and lives in the Ojai with her husband lege in London—as well as attended a 4-week mountaineering Kevin (an English teacher in Oxnard) and sons Will and Spencer. course offered by the National Outdoor Leadership School in Sara Sackner, who attended Cornell University and graduated from Wyoming’s Wind River Range. Melissa Johnson, a new assistant in Pratt Institute, counts as her most recent professional experience the Admission Office, also left Boston behind in coming to Thacher: producing exhibits for the Getty and serving as the Director of De- a Harvard grad, she was captain of the Varsity Women’s Basketball velopment at Ojai Valley School. Sara has taken up daytime residence team; she’s also participated in Outward Bound’s Summer Leader- in the Development Office, where she is Director of Annual Giving ship Semester. (Go ahead: guess what Melissa will be doing during and Alumni Affairs. Sara and husband Andy’s son Zach is a member of the freshman class; close on his heels are brothers Eli and Albert. All live in Ojai.

OUR DAY OF REMEMBRANCE… …on September14 began the evening be- fore, with a meeting of the seniors and several faculty at the Head’s Home during which the group discussed ways in which the Thacher community could appropriately and more fully process the multiple tragedies of earlier in the week. From that thoughtful and heartfelt planning session emerged a day for which we are all very grateful: it began with an All-School gathering, from which we Front row: Megan Carney, Theana Hancock, Abby Davis, Kurt Supplee, Margo Buddhu; moved to smaller groups (all classes represented in each) for open back row: Jason Carney, Melissa Johnson, and Sara Sackner. discussion. Mid-morning, the community met at the Outdoor her extracurricular hours!) New to the Mathematics Department, Chapel for a service of prayer, reflection, song, and silent medita- though not to teaching, are Theana Hancock and Kurt Supplee, both tion, followed by the playing of taps and a raising and lowering to of whom taught most recently in Colorado. A native of Hawaii, half-mast of the American flag. Thereafter, students and faculty Theana earned both her BA and her MA from Colorado College; in were free to be on their own on the otherwise still and quiet cam- addition to teaching, she is coaching cross-country and track and is pus. In the evening, the campus emptied as students, faculty, fac- advising junior boys in Lee Quong. An avid and expert kayaker and ulty families, and staff took buses, vans, and cars down to Ojai to camper, Kurt—who graduated from the University of Oklahoma join in the Valley’s candlelight vigil, held under the towering oaks with a degree in Industrial Engineering—is coaching basketball and of Libbey Park in the town’s center. By evening’s end, some critical working in the Outdoor Program. From much closer by—down in and necessary healing had been done, and though it’s far from over, the Valley, to be precise—two others have come: Margo Buddhu, who the day helped many to move forward in personally meaningful joins the Science Department as a seasoned teacher of chemistry and ways.

My short list of things I find remarkable about Thacher astonished by their ability to make connections between the includes what goes on in the classroom. I’ve been teaching on exotic world of Japanese aesthetics we were studying and other and off for thirty years, and more familiar things they my class here last year was the knew. Making connections, most rewarding classroom after all, is at the very heart of experience I have ever had. real learning, and all of you There is a simple explanation whom I have had a chance to for this: the eagerness and meet seem to excel at this— openness to learn something because you are open to new new and unfamiliar that the ideas and experiences, and students brought to the you are committed to materials, and the excitement discovering how things they discovered in it. I was connect. impressed from the beginning Dr. John Nathan in his New by how intense and appreciative they were. And I was Year’s Banquet address 4 :: Parents’Post

SHORT TAKES Galvanized and accompanied by Laura Neville, Gtwo vans full of Thacher Toads (driven by Julie and Bo Manson) headed to the beach at Emma Wood State Park to participate in the 17th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day. The Thacher group picked up 20 bags of trash and completed critical data collection, as well. Rolling up their sleeves were Emily Nathan, Mary Leighton, Jackie Fiske, Matt O’Meara, Montana Caset, Kay Bradford, Clare Holstein, Lauren Fiske, Cara Bonewitz, Laura Slattery, and Joy Bergeron. e Hanna Uscinski steers Parent pairs Sara Sackner and Andy Behar (Zach ’05) and Jill and her horse Sonora Barry Kitnick (Zak ’03, Alex CdeP ’00) generously hosted students at around the Sand Arena as part of a their homes for a celebration of Rosh Hashanah mid-September. warm-up exercise. Later in the month, the Sackner-Behars also opened their doors to students for Yom Kippur. e Senior Jamie Hastings is the lat- est inductee into the A-Horse Camper elite; he joins classmates Alex Herbert and Jaime Everett, and junior Phoebe Barkan as the rare birds who have passed muster on a score or more of require- ments for the honor and respon- Lear sibilities attendant thereto. Jamie’s pictured here accepting a handshake from Chuck Warren (Science, Horse Program), guardian of this particular Thacher flame. e Andrew Ma, a senior, spearheaded a fund drive to aid the New York Fireman’s Fund and the American Red Cross: at his persistent urg- ing and strategic placement of boxes around campus, he and his schoolmates raised over $600 for these two important causes. e The Honorable Pete McCloskey, former th U.S. Congressman from California, con- stitutional law expert, and Visiting Scholar at Thacher for several weeks last winter, dropped by again this week to speak to the community about Septem- Rop ber 11’s terrorist attacks.“You will be the Willy Wilder and Boise hang out by the corrals decision-makers,”he said to the students. before tacking up. “With the privilege of your Thacher ed- ucation, you must study history and world religions; study and think and discuss so that you will be ready when your time comes.” Mr. McCloskey, who, with his wife, Helen, stayed on for lunch-table discussion, is pictured above with senior faculty member Marvin Shagam (History, Latin), conferring just before his talk at Assembly. e A handful of seasoned rid- ers stayed on campus through Extra Day Trips and, with Director of the Horse Program Cam Schryver and Susan Hardenbergh (Horse Program), worked with Thacher’s to get some of the equine kinks out before the new riders returned from the High Sierra. “Much to the amusement of the fresh- men and faculty, they also produced a training video,” according to Ms. Toby Nathan preps Hardenbergh, “featuring Thacher’s for ground-work savviest steeds and riders.” Participat- with Cookie. ing were Rebeccah Gore-Judd (pic- tured here, shaded by a great hat), Melanie Morris, Jacey Roche, Michael Fall 2001 2001 :: 5

Dachs, Becky Swan, MacKenna Chase, Tamima Al-Awar,Ward Sorrick,Amanda Grumman, Ronald Wu, Claire Milligan, Catherine Whittinghill, Patty Abou- Samra, Ben Heilveil (here, simultane- ously demonstrating rope tricks and Picking hooves as part walking), Robert Cerda, Grace Bueti, of pre-riding groom- Luke Myers, Katherine Bechtel, Eita ing: Armando Leon takes it in stride, as Hatayama, and Taylor Medina. Said Tay- does Dowdy, his steed. lor of the experience,“I learned the new ’ personalities and abilities and felt we did a great job helping to prepare them for the year.”

GROWTH… …among the faculty this summer will no doubt find its ultimate …beneficiary among many of your children as their learning is en- hanced by what their teachers learned during their vacations—but Leading Sergeant Mike— ask the faculty below, and they’ll claim it was all just plain fun (and perhaps to water?—is Annie informative and compelling and rejuvenating) to be on the other Strachan, who just might side of the desk for a spell. make him drink. rning Down to LA’s Otis School of Art and Design went Elizabeth Ma- honey (Arts) for much of the summer, where she worked with two professional photographers, honing her technical skills with many different camera types and in the darkroom. Buck Wales (Mathematics Department Chair) soaked up philosophy (Plato’s dialogues Ion and Gorgias) and poetry (Wallace he Stevens) at two week-long seminars held at St. John’s College in Santa Fe; he also participated in one of the Ojai’s weekend Great Books pes Seminars, focusing on Dosto- evsky’s Crime and Punish- ment. Gallia Vickery Married at the Outdoor Chapel this past June (Mathematics, Dance) also were Linda Kim and our own Pierre Yoo headed to — (Chemistry), pictured here at sunset in tradi- specifically, the Jillana School tional Korean wedding garb. in Taos—where, from one of the elite dancers permitted by the Balanchine Trust to teach his choreography, she learned Balanchine ballet technique and varia- tions from three important ballet works; she also studied anatomy and physiology for the dance, as well as Pilates technique and mod- Jaime Luna ern dance with Gail Gilbert. A wood craftsman for years perches on but only recently in the classroom, Bo Manson (English, Wood De- Mighty Mouse’s sign) enrolled at The Woodworker’s Academy in Alameda, CA, a pipe corral before gathering aimed expressly at tool use and maintenance and safety in haltering up. educational woodshops such as Thacher’s. On the heels of that, Bo enrolled in three consecutive programs with a master cabinet-maker, the end result of which is standing in Bo and Julie’s dining room: a 7-foot long replica, in cherry, of a 17th-century French country table. (Wait ‘til you see what your kids will make under Bo’s guidance!) Elissa Thorn (Physics) caught up with her research col- leagues at Langmuir Lab and New Mexico Tech in Soccorro, NM, 6 :: Parents’Post

whose work focuses on thunderstorm electrification and lightning GIVING and laid some groundwork for further investigation next summer. An application closer to home: Elissa convinced the Langmuir pow- Nearly all Thacher students have, by the time they graduate, been in- ers-that-be to allow her (and her Thacher students) access to a cut- Nvolved to one degree or another in the School’s Community Service ting-edge system that will display storm data in real-time on the web. program. Many also use summertime to give to others, and this The highly persuasive Elissa also reports, “I got a commitment for past break was no exception. Laurel Peterson put her years of Span- the loan of some high-tech equipment for classroom demo use at ish language study to good and lasting use when she tutored ele- some point in the near future.” Abby Davis (Biology), mentary-aged children at a local summer school in her hometown Margo Buddhu (Environmental Science), Alice Meyer (Psychology), of Walla Walla, WA. and Elizabeth Mahoney (Arts) all took Advanced Placement semi- Many were starting I felt rewarded by the fact that nars in their subject areas from scratch with the Though the conference focused in various parts of the English language; oth- perhaps I had made some difference primarily on ethnic and cultural country. Dean ers were polishing in the lives of these students—maybe of Students Chris Maz- idiom and diction; all even contributed to some future diversity in independent schools, zola buckled down for no doubt learned much we also talked about sexism, over a week of 10-hour under Laurel’s tutelage. success. Also, volunteering with these homophobia and classism in our days at a cultural diver- In her visits to a retire- children gave me a much fuller sity conference held on ment home, Jackie appreciation for my education: communities—all topics we here at the campus of Milton Fiske gave manicures to Thacher discuss at various points in Academy (MA). women who delighted I realized how truly lucky I am to our HR&S [Human Relationships In the Pacific Northwest in the attention and be in a place like Thacher. (Hood, OR), Rich Maz- care. “When I first Laurel Peterson, on tutoring this summer & Sexuality] seminars. zola (Director of Athlet- started, some of the Chris Mazzola, Dean of Students ics) and Fred Coleman residents couldn’t re- (Mathematics) completed member my name; it made me feel that I had actually made a dif- a 10-day Wilderness First Responder course designed specifically for ference when, later in the summer, they could,”Jackie said. Half-way outdoor professionals; it offered intensive training for the recognition, ‘round the world, Jackie’s classmate Charmiane Liu volunteered her treatment, and prevention of wilderness emergencies. time at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Hong King, where she worked in Dr. Mel Levine’s “All Kinds of Minds” workshop at UNC found our the Hematology Intensive Care Unit with staff and patients, watch- Study Skills maven Alison Curwen in the audience; there she studied ing the intersection of medical technology and plain old love and the eight constructs of the human brain that contribute to learning, care. Also in Asia was Vivian Wu, who traveled with her mother, Lily, as well as how to identify the strengths and weaknesses within an and students from a local school in Hong Kong to mainland China individual learner and how to establish appropriate accommoda- to help in poor villages, hiking up into the hills to deliver money, tions for students whose differences affect their classroom per- food, and other supplies. formance. Meanwhile, two different seminars formed va- cation bookends for Austin Curwen (History): the Humanities Conference at Exeter, whose focus was exploring different ways to INSPIRATION AND RARIFIED AIR implement discussion-based learning into the classroom; and the Taking their cue from a performance featuring John Muir (played by Association of Boarding Schools’ Residential Life conferences, which Thistorian and actor Lee Stetson) last spring in our own Outdoor was, in Austin’s words,“a good chance to look at multiple aspects of Theatre, junior classmates Nathan Parker and Brian Keane plotted a boarding school life.” Susan Hardenbergh (Horse Pro- summer ascent of Mt. Shasta in northern California, at 14,162 feet, gram) and Katherine Halsey (French) attended a two-week profes- the third highest mountain sional-level horse clinic at the International Study Center—the Par- in the continental U.S. elli Ranch—in Pagosa Springs, CO, with the goal of attaining a With Nathan’s dad, Jim, Level 2 (“Harmony”) the boys used ice axes, ranking (Level 1 is ropes, and crampons—as called “Partnership,” well as some skills learned and Level 3, “Refine- at Thacher—to summit ment). Attending the the peak (pictured here), same ranch clinic for though according to one week were other Nathan, “the real fun Horse Department fac- started when we got down ulty Emily Etchells a ways and were able to Flanked by Senior Class President David Gal, School (Spanish), Lori Schry- slide down the mountain Chair Robert Brownell, and Head Prefect Charlotte ver, and Mike Swan, on chutes made by earlier Lord, is Sra. Cecilia Ortiz, back from her sabbatical year as well as Mike’s spent in Sanlucar, Spain, with her husband, author climbers descending. In David Howard, and daughters Hannah and Eva. Wel- daughter Becky, a three minutes, we slid 3000 come home! Thacher sophomore. feet.”Some sledding, that! Fall 2001 :: 7

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THE THACHER SCHOOL PARENTS’ASSOCIATION October 2001

Dear Parents, (Robert Betsy and John Grether Greetings from the Parents’Association and welcome to the new school year! First order of business: a special Thank you to last year’sRussell Parents’Association’03) and to all ofCo-Presidents, you who volunteered your time to make last CdeP ’99, Ted CdeP ’01, and year’s committee work so fruitful. As we head into the thick of the 2001-02 academic year, remember that participation in Parents’Association activities is a wonderful way to become acquainted with other parents while supporting the School in a variety of ways. Barb Library Services; Grad Night; Elizabeth White, and I am pleased to announce and andthank Liz in Hastings, advance the following chairs of the various Parents’Association Susan Stenovec Helen Keane, Sandy O’Meara, Barb Medina,Faculty and committees: Judith Whittinghill, Terrie Torres,Family Weekend BBQ; Medina and Betsy Grether, Grandparents’Day; and Marilyn Susie Bechtel, Kathy Back, Terrie Torres,Thacher Gear Sales; Exam Proctors; and Nina Toumanoff, Staff Appreciation; Wallace, Gymkhana Weekend Auction! (Sarah ’03) welcomed new families Thanks also go to the Thacher familiesAyesha whoand hosted Mohammed end-of-summer, Shaikh quell-the-butterflies’05) opened their Berkeley gatherings home for (David ’02 and Dana new students and their parents.Robin andYoav Gal in the Santa Barbara area; for new Bay Area families. Fall is in the air and Family Weekend—October 26 to 28—is upon us.This is unquestionably one of the most enjoyable events of the year and a wonderful time to meet your children’s new friends, to become acquainted with Thacher faculty and staff, and to make and renew friendships with other Thacher par- ents. Family Weekend will be kicked off with an all-school barbecue on Friday, October 26,Terrie at 5 p.m. Torres A Thacher tradition begun in 1995, the barbecue is for all students and their families. Anyone who has a talent for barbecuing—or would like to learn—is invited to help out! Please call co-chairs Barb Medina at (805) 659-5284 if you can lend a hand grill-side. at (805) 659-4220 or I hope you’ve by now gotten a letter from me that included a form list- ing various opportunities for parents to participate in Thacher activities. I’ve received a strong and heartening response, but I can still use some additional volunteers. Please let me know if you have an interest in any job, big or small, by returning your form. One interesting volunteer op- portunity is speaking at the School.The Thacher community often en- joys the enrichment and interaction of stimulating speakers from the parent community. If you have an inclination to share your thoughts or expertise with students and faculty on almost any appropriate topic, let me know. With your continued support and involvement, the Thacher Parents’ Association can make a powerful and lasting contribution to the educa- tional experience of our children. If you have questions about how you . might participate or about upcoming [email protected] events, I can be reached at home at (805) 646-8880 and by email at Bruce and I look forward to seeing you at Family Weekend and at soc- Bruce, Marilyn, Elizabeth CdeP ’96, Benjamin cer games this fall! CdeP ’99, Nathan ’02, and Alissa ’04 With warm regards,

Marilyn Wallace AX (805) 640-1033 93023-9001 • (805) 646-4377 • F • OJAI,CALIFORNIA 5025 THACHER ROAD Shadows lengthen in the still-sunlit few min- Sutes before Formal Dinner. On the Pergola benches, students gather to catch their breath, chat a bit and appreciate that unrivaled view to the Valley before, propelled by the dinner bell, they head in to the evening family meal. Cheers to all of you,

P.S.Get here if you possibly can on November 9 and 10 for The Thacher Masquers’ produc- tion of Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel’s Tony Award-winning play about four Irish sisters and the men in their lives. The Mas- quers’ version will be a winner, too!

Production Credits Editor Photography Joy Sawyer-Mulligan Annie Strachan ’05, Elvis Anthony, CHBetsy Bradford ’02, Bert Mahoney, ProductionA and Design JimE Parker (Nathan ’03, Colin ’05), HTim Ditch Joy Sawyer-MulliganR Design T J. Bert Mahoney S C Printed on recycled paper using soy-based inks. C E

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