PRINCETON DAY great to be a Panther! Congratulations! PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL www.pds.org Contents Princeton Day School Journal Volume 48, Number 1 • SPRING 2011 p. 3 • Fall Harvest Dinner SCHOOL LIFE 2 News & Events 6 Arts Notes 10 PDS Notable: Marla Pfenninger Saint Gilles ’04 12 Sports Notes FACULTY NOTES____________ 15 Current Faculty News p. 12 • Sports Notes 15 Former Faculty News p 7 • Painting by Carol Hanson REUNION WEEKEND 2011_________________at the Anne Reid '72 Art Gallery. 19 Alumni Service Award: Dede Pickering ’71 20 Alumni Achievement Award: Deborah Moore Krulewitch ’61 21 Young Alumni Achievement Award: Marissa Vahlsing ’01 22 2011 Athletic Hall of Fame Honorees 34 Reunion Weekend Class Chairpersons 35 Reunion Weekend Schedule: May 13 & 14 p. 19 • Alumni Service Award HEAD OF SCHOOL & TRUSTEES 26 Letter from Paul J. Stellato, Head of School 27 Princeton Day School Trustees 28 Report from C. Treby McLaughlin Williams ’80, Chair of the Board of Trustees ALUMNI 31 Greetings from Galete J. Levin ’96, President, Alumni Board 32 Spotlight on Young Alumni: Chris Breitenberg ’99 p. 36 • On the Cover: Sara "Zoe" Hart ’96 36 Sara “Zoe” Hart ’96: Becoming an Alpine Princess 38 Alumni Gathering: NYC SPRING 2011 JOURNAL Editor: Kathryn Rosko 39 Young Alumni Gathering: NYC Designer: Maria Kauzmann, MK Design 40 Alumni Thanksgiving Games Printed by Garrison Printing Company Cover design: Margery Miller 42 Class Notes 42 Miss Fine’s School Cover photo © Kristoffer Erickson 47 Princeton Country Day School The Journal is printed on 100% 51 Princeton Day School post-consumer recycled paper 64 In Memoriam NEWS & EVENTS SCHOOL LIFE News lEvents Michael Thompson Visits Campus Bestselling author and acclaimed child psychologist Dr. Michael Thompson visited the campus on January 4-5. Author of The New York Times bestselling Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life o f Boys and Best Friends, Worst Enemies (a book that Head of Middle School Steven Hancock and Head of Lower School John Weaver discussed at parent coffees leading up to the visit), Thompson has appeared regularly on national television shows, and has been quoted widely in the national media. Dr. Thompson’s visit was a result of research into commu­ nity building supported by a 2008 David C. Bogle Award to Middle School Dean Donna Zarzecki and Lower School teachers Susan Ferguson and Heather Maione. Dr. Thomp­ son presented a lecture titled “How to Raise Responsible Head of School Paul Stellato with visiting author and Children,” for the PDS community, which drew a packed psychologist Michael Thompson. house at the McAneny Theater. Mini-Course Week Middle States Accreditation Process February 14 marked the beginning of a beloved Princeton Day School completed an eighteenth-month accreditation annual event in the Middle School: Mini-Course process this fall, with the creation of the Accreditation for Growth report. Week. During this week, Middle School students The report was created by a core team that included Cecilia Marquez and faculty set aside daily course work for a spe­ (US Spanish), David LaMotte (US English Department Chair), Beth cial one-week, interdisciplinary experience. This Yakoby (MS History), and Daniel Cohen (LS Social Studies), as well year’s roster included: Chocolate Immersion, The as teams of representatives, and a steering committee, and focused on Amish Experience (with a academic engagement, stewardship and community. Questions posed trip to Lancaster County, • Chocolate Immersion to the team were: “What is one aspect of PDS that you believe to be PA), Theater on a Shoe­ • The Amish Experience exceptional?” and “What is one aspect of PDS that you believe needs string (this year’s perfor­ to be improved?” Ms. Marquez remarked that “performing my role as mance was F iddler on the • Theater on a Shoestring coordinator of the self-study for this accreditation has been a true honor.” R oof), and All in the Same • All in th e Same Boat Boat (with a visit to Mystic, CT). Besides being an invigorating change of pace Kwanzaa Dinner during the winter, the students are able to make The PDS Kwanzaa Dinner was held on connections across disciplines and grade levels, Friday, December 10, in the campus and deal with complex, real-world issues. center. The annual event allows the children to present to the communi­ ty information about the meaning and origins of Kwanzaa, which is the Swahili word for First Fruits. Lower School Pre-Kindergarten Teacher Tarshia Grif­ Students performing fin mentioned that “the dinner was a true community event, during Kwanzaa where families devoted lots of time, guidance, and materials.” celebration. 2 • PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL • SPRING 2011 SCHOOL LIFE NEWS & EVENTS Sustainability FallUpdate Harvest Dinner The Harvest Dinner is an annual project run by the EnAct Club, led by Upper Green Cup Challenge School English Teacher and Sustainability Coordinator Liz Cutler. Princeton Day School participated again in the “Our goals are to celebrate the garden, teach folks about sustainable Green Cup Challenge from January 21-February agriculture, and raise funds for the garden,” remarked Ms. Cutler 18, competing with schools nation-wide to reduce about this year’s event, which took place in October. The students electricity consumption. Since winning this Chal­ came up with the menu and cooked the meal with food solely from lenge in 2009, many in-school habits around lights, the PDS garden and other fans, and electronics have changed as PDS has local organic farms. PDS become much more sensitive to the school’s carbon Chef Brian Mochnal worked footprint. The motto for this year’s Green Cup with the students to create Challenge was “Taking Home the Green.” During the menu, and supervised the the Challenge the focus was on encouraging stu­ cooking. The students deco­ dents, faculty and staff to participate at home and rated, served, gave garden at school in two programs: Low Impact Month and tours, presented a teaching Healthy Me, Healthy Planet. presentation, and cleaned up. During Low Impact Month, This year’s presentation was all students were offered on the topic of “where does low-impact challenges, it come from, where does with some grades com­ it go,” and featured cook­ peting against each ing with a tomato from the other to see how 001119 0 ^ 6 1 1 garden versus a store-bought well they did with tomato as the focus. There their set goals, and the younger students play­ were student musical perfor­ ing games, such as “eco-bingo.” There were also mances in the garden and events like the screening of “No Impact Man,” in during the meal. Ms. Cutler the McAneny Theater, organized by the PDSeeds reported that “this year group of the Parents Association. The Healthy we served 200 people, and Me, Healthy Planet program focused on the food raised about $3000.” choices available in the campus center. During the month, everyone was encouraged to eat a nutrient- dense, environmentally low impact, “Medi- terranean-style” diet, high in vegetables, whole grains, fruits, beans, legumes and ol­ ive oil and low in ani­ mal products, based on recommendations from the American Dietetic Association and the USDA Dietary Guide­ lines for Americans. SPRING 2011 • PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL • 3 NEWS & EVENTS SCHOOL LIFE Bridge Project The 13th annual Bridge Project took place on Monday, January 24. Physics students were individually given ten pieces of balsa wood to design and construct a bridge^^® that would hold the most weight compared to the bridge’s weight. Pictured at right are Jake Hall 14. and Upper School Science Teacher Anthony Lapinski. Innovation Eighth Grade Trip to Washington, DC On NovemberlO-12, the 8th graders visited Washington, DC, spending three days and two nights touring, learning, and socializing in our nation’s capital. This year’s trip included visits to the Smithsonian museums, the U.S. Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, the Newseum, and, of course, the Hard Rock Cafe. 4 • PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL • SPRING 2011 SCHOOL LIFE NEWS & EVENTS Scott Siprelle & Rush Holt Visit PDS In October, Princeton Day School was honored to host both Rush Holt and Scott Siprelle in consecutive weeks, to speak to the Upper School student body in their weekly assemblies. Mr. Holt and Mr. Siprelle, nominees for the 12th District Congressional race, each spoke and took questions from the audience during the hour-long assembly. Upper School History Department Chair George Sanderson invited both Mr. Holt and Mr. Siprelle, and Scott Siprelle remarked that they “provided our students with an excellent overview of the specific issues associated with the 12th District race, as well as more general points about the differing philosophies of the Democratic and Republican parties.” In addition, Mr. Sanderson said that “in conjunction with the election, my AP US Government and Politics students conducted a survey of students (which they subsequently analyzed in class), which was quite revealing.” Rush Holt Upper School Powder Puff Game The annual Powder Puff touch football game competition between Junior and Senior girls, which takes place between the fall and winter sports seasons, is a highlight of the year. Kate Winton, Upper School English Teacher and Dean for the Class of 2012 remarks that the event is always “a terrifically popular and well-attended.” This year’s coaches were Karthik Nagilingam (12th Grade) and Matt Gluck (11th Grade), and the refs were PE Teacher Jill Thomas and Chris Devlin, a member of the buildings and grounds staff. Each class designed tee-shirts for the big day (juniors wore black, with freshman urged to wear that color and cheer them on, and seniors wore pink, with sophomores following suit). Todd Gudgel, Upper School Latin Teacher and Dean for the Class of 2011 remarked that “the quality of play was impressive this year.” Mr.