FALL/WINTER 2019 CK DANCERS ON THE TRITON POOLS This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Strickland Dance and Writing Awards. More on page 23. Photo by John Sobczak Tradition is published twice a year by the FALL/WINTER 2019 Cranbrook Schools Office of Communications. Write us at Tradition, Cranbrook Schools PO Box 801 Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303-0801 To reach the Office of Alumni Relations, call 248.645.3132. For questions about advancement, contact the Cranbrook Schools Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations at 248.645.3140. The Cranbrook signature, crane and school seals are registered trademarks of the Cranbrook Educational Community. EDITORIAL BOARD Clay Matthews, Director of Communications, Tradition Fall/Winter 2019 Schools Photo: Entrepreneurship students doing Market Research. Susan Aikens Post ’78, Director of Alumni Relations, Schools See feature, p. 12. Madison Sanders ’10, Alumni Engagement Coordinator Liz Lent ’89, Features Contributor ABLE OF CONTENTS Ann Merseles Reed ’55, Volunteer Assistant IN EVERY ISSUE President’s Point of View 2 Photographic Integrity Director’s School of Thought 3 Due to the wide range of photographic sources used to produce Tradition, the reader may Steward’s Table 4 experience some inconsistency in photographic CKAA Presidents’ Letter 5 quality. While every effort has been made to Focus: Cranbrook Kingswood 6 ensure the best quality images throughout the magazine, high-end printing technology may reveal the limits of the source material. FEATURES Environmental Responsibility Teaching Entrepreneurship 12 Tradition is committed to advancing Cranbrook’s strategic goal of increasing its environmental Convocation 2019 18 responsibility. The magazine is printed on Amerigloss, which is American made and contains 10% post-consumer waste, is manufactured with ABOUT ALUMNI an elemental chlorine-free bleaching process, and promotes responsible forest-management Alumni Giving 22 practices. Alumni Profile: Jaime Ray Newman ’96 24 Alumni Profile: Pero Dagbovie ’89 26 Alumni Moments 28 WOULD YOU PREFER Class Notes 42 TO READ THE ONLINE In Memoriam 133 VERSION OF TRADITION? To opt out of receiving the paper magazine, please let us know by emailing [email protected] III resident’s POINT of VIEW ranbrook challenges minds and transforms lives. since 1971, this is an important milestone and will continue During conversations with alumni, parents and other Cranbrook’s legacy of experimental design activities. Led by Cranbrook friends, I have the pleasure of seeing Designer-in-Residence Carla Diana, students will explore and the successes of this vision. As we aspire to achieve experiment with the intersection of the physical and digital. I look Cthis goal for the next generation of learners, the importance of forward to following the boundless potential of this department innovation and technology continue to be apparent. I would like and the innovative works that will ensue. to share with you some examples of how these strategic themes If you have visited the Acheson Planetarium, the Observatory, are championed at Cranbrook. or used any of the touch-screen interfaces at Cranbrook Institute Awarded just prior to graduation in June, Cranbrook Schools of Science, you know first-hand that the Institute of Science is received the SMART Exemplary School Award from SMART utilizing new technology throughout the museum. To discover Technologies. Cranbrook is the first school in the state of Michigan more interactive elements and innovative technologies, please to receive this honor for effective application of innovative plan to visit Robot Revolution during your next campus visit. It is a practices in the use of SMART technologies to enhance teaching technological marvel you won’t want to miss! and learning. I am extremely proud and grateful to Schools staff, As you may know, I will be retiring at the end of this academic including the eight SMART Exemplary Educators, who helped us year. I am grateful for my time at Cranbrook, both as a parent earn this accolade. Congratulations! and professionally, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude for At Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School, a new Virtual Reality the special relationships that have developed with each of Lab is now available to all Upper School students and faculty. you. There remains much to do in the months ahead, and I look The Upper School also launched Department X. With elective forward to opportunities to connect with you during this year. courses in entrepreneurship, students engage in design thinking, Sincerely, product consultation and site visits around the Detroit area. Courses have been expanded to include an honors-level Dominic DiMarco, President humanities research course and a course in artificial intelligence. Cranbrook Educational Community I am thrilled to see the advancements being made under the leadership of Director of Schools Aimeclaire Roche and the opportunities they offer to our students. This year, Cranbrook Academy of Art welcomed its first 4D Design Department class. As the first new Academy department 2 Grateful for your participation in this important process of self- study, I share here some summary comments from our alumni and two overarching themes. ACADEMICS: • The vast majority—over 90%—of alumni believe that the quality of a Cranbrook education is excellent or very good; similarly over 90% of alumni believe that they were well prepared for post-secondary academic work in college and graduate school. • Across all constituent groups—current students and parents, faculty and staff, governors, and alumni—there are consistently high marks for the Schools’ support of academic achievement. » A substantive number of respondents across the community do call us to examine our teaching practices to ensure that Cranbrook is engaging students with innovative pedagogy irector’s and in a full complement of relevant, cross-disciplinary offerings, particularly in coding, computer science, robotics SCHOOL of THOUGHT and engineering. This feedback is encouraging given the Schools’ recent and planned investments in the development of interdisciplinary elective course offerings, maker-spaces, he opening of a new school year brings with it as well as robotics and other STEM-related programs. countless joys and exciting moments. From first-day- CO-CURRICULUM: of-school introductions and Welcome Back picnics to • While still a majority, a notably lower percentage—about three Homecoming, these back-to-school milestones also quarters—of alumni believe that Cranbrook prepared them well Toffer us a reminder that each new school year is an opportunity ‘for life.’ to think anew about education and our work with young people. » Many ask us to consider more carefully how we develop Indeed, Cranbrook must ensure that with each passing academic values and character in our students as well as how we year we remain in step with the needs of contemporary students, support our students’ growth as caring individuals and and that we approach our work as anything but routine. compassionate leaders. To assist with this, as many are aware, Cranbrook’s faculty is » Many urge that we examine how we support a diverse and currently engaged in an important, formal process of self-study truly inclusive community. and accreditation by the Independent Schools of the Central States • Similar sentiments were reflected across other constituent groups. (ISACS). This accreditation process occurs every seven years and A significant number of current students and parents, faculty and requires that our faculty and administration examine all aspects of staff, governors too encourage us to consider programs that our academic and cocurricular program, our goals and objectives, cultivate in students a palpable sense of confidence, resilience, as well as what motivates our educational decisions. Ultimately, wellbeing, and ethical leadership. These constituents also call our comprehensive written reflections will be submitted to ISACS, us to develop in our wider school community a positive school reviewed and appraised by a visiting committee of peer educators spirit and common sense of purpose. from outside Cranbrook who, in the fall of 2020, will spend several I share this data with gratitude and appreciation. Constructive input days on campus, and ultimately recommend to ISACS our next term such as this is invaluable; it allows us to see where Cranbrook’s of accreditation, a critical imprimatur for independent schools. most invested ambassadors and stakeholders feel the school As a part of this self-study and accreditation process, we serves students well. It also guides our attention to places for fresh articulate how, in all areas, we welcome feedback from strategic thinking. Rest assured that throughout the course of this our constituents, challenge our own assumptions and, as an year feedback from all constituents will be distilled, examined and institution, assess our progress and success. I sincerely thank all woven into priorities and plans for the Schools’ future. My thanks to who last May took advantage of the opportunity to offer feedback you for your input and support as we accomplish this. on your Cranbrook experience via an electronic survey. We AIMECLAIRE ROCHE received—and are carefully examining—hundreds of pages of Director of Cranbrook Schools input from a record number of respondents: over 700 alumni and over 1500 current students and parents, faculty, staff and governors. 3 The vision for Department X is to grow its offerings and to infuse and enrich