Foote PrintsVol 43.1 Spring 2016

On the coverThe third-grade maypole dance ends in a rainbow of bright-colored ribbons on May Day 2015.

On this pageThird graders from the Class of 2000 finishing the maypole dance at May Day 1994. May Day is Foote’s oldest continuous tradition, a celebration of spring, music and movement that has connected family and friends across generations.

Foote Prints Spring 16

From the Head of School Get ready for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration. By Head of School Carol Maoz

Falling for FooteA grandparent with a long career as an educator reflects on his day at Foote.

Gladly Will They LearnProfessional Development is giving Foote teachers more opportunities to improve their craft.

Horizons at FooteAlumni share why they came back to teach at Foote’s new summer program.

Branching OutIn its second half century, The Foote School reached out into the world.

Rewriting HistoryA former Foote parent discovers her home is a relic of Foote School’s past.

News at Foote

Connecting the Dots

Centennial Weekend

Alumni Award Winners

Legacies at Foote

Where Are They Now?

Young Alums Day

Class Notes

Why I Teach

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IN CELEBR ATION OF FOOTE’S CENTENNIAL , we’re digging through the archives to look back at our school’s remarkable journey. The Fall 2015 issue of Foote Prints covered the school’s first 50 years; this issue looks at the second 50 years. In this photo, students from the Class of 2002 walk arm-in-arm across the playing field on Field Day.

Foote Prints is published twice a year for alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends.

EditorAndy Bromage

Class Notes Editor Cheryl Nadzam

DesignAHdesign, Angie HurlbutThea A. Moritz

Photography Stephanie Anestis, Judy Sirota Rosenthal, Andy Bromage, Prescott Bush Clement ’35, Mara Lavitt, Sven Martson

Board of DirectorsRichard Bershtein, PresidentGeorge AtwoodKim BohenConstance ‘Cecie’ Clement ’62James Farnam ’65Rosa Holler, PTC Co-PresidentSuguru ImaedaFrancie IrvineGeorge KnightNadine KoobatianMichael KraussRichard Lee, Vice PresidentCindy Leffell, Vice PresidentGlenn LevinMelissa MatthesJennifer Milikowsky ’02Stephen Murphy, TreasurerZehra Patwa, SecretaryJason PriceKathy PriestAmy Sudmyer ’89, PTC Co-PresidentKiran Zaman

Ex-OfficioCarol Maoz, Head of School

Visit us onlinewww.footeschool.org

The Foote School does not discriminate in the administration of its admissions or educational policies or other school-administered programs, and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or non-job-related physical disability.

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A Once-In-a-Lifetime Celebration

FOOTE’S 10 0TH SCHOOL YEAR has been one of many joyous celebrations. From the opening assembly, at which ninth graders used our school’s story to teach about Falco’s PRIDE, to buddy groups planting 100 daffodil bulbs around campus, Foote’s centennial has brought our community closer together and deepened our appreciation for our school’s remarkable history.

On February 16, our 100th day of school, we threw a big birth-day party for Foote. Students paraded hand-in-hand through campus, unfazed by a downpour, and into the Hosley Gym where they were greeted by cheering faculty members. Excited does not begin to describe the mood that day, with 600 stu-dents and faculty members packed into the gym dancing the Hokey Pokey, playing Pin the Feather on Falco and singing happy birthday to Foote. When we found ourselves one Falco poster short, two art teachers quickly hand-painted another one so that everyone could enjoy the game. Every student left with a party bag and a cupcake, and our staff made sure there were peanut-free and gluten-free cupcakes for those with allergies, so that every child was included.

To me, these scenes speak volumes about our school. This is a community that looks out for one another and pulls together for the sake of our students, whether it’s a classroom project, an off-campus experience or our 100th birthday party. We are inclusive and value each student as an individual. It’s those values that have helped make Foote a place where children of all backgrounds can reach their full potential.

Our culminating celebration will be Centennial Weekend, on May 13, 14 & 15. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime gathering for the Foote community and I sincerely hope you will join us. Where else could you hear alumni talks by a bestselling illustrator (Elisha Cooper ’86), an organic farmer (Pauline Lord ’64), a family of trailblazing restaura-teurs (Bun Lai ’84, Ted Lai ’87, Mie Lai ’91), a charter school principal (Diana Smith ’73), an accomplished jazz composer (Ben Allison ’82) and a U.S. diplomat (Clinton White ’82)?

Our centennial year has focused us on thinking about our past—the extraordinary vision of our founding mothers and how far we have come as a school—and also about where we are heading. When people ask me where I see the school in another 100 years, the simple answer is that I want it to be a place where children love coming to school every day, just as they do today and have for 100 years. On a deeper level, it is this: While we certainly don’t know how the world will look 100 years from now, I hope that Foote School will con-tinue to be a leader in preparing our students to be creative problem-solvers, critical thinkers and engaged citizens committed to a more just world.

I hope you will come back to Foote on Centennial Weekend to celebrate our history, our community and our shared journey at this special school.

Sincerely,

Carol Maoz, Head of School

Message from theHead of School

Head of School Carol Maoz dressed as school founder Martha Babcock Foote for “History Alive,” a dramatic sketch performed for students in September

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IN JANUARY, FOOTE WELCOMED composer Rob Kapilow for three days as the inaugural guest of the Ellie Warburg Class of 1945 Visiting Artist Program. An acclaimed com-poser, conductor, author and music commentator (well known for his “What Makes It Great” program on NPR), Rob worked with individual music classes and performed for every grade at small assemblies.

The visiting artist program was established this year with funds donated by the family and classmates of Elinor Bozyan Warburg ’45, a devoted Foote alumna and lover of the arts. The daughter of a Yale music professor and organ-ist, Ellie earned a BA in music theory from Wellesley College

in 1953 and also played organ. The program will bring artists to Foote annually to work and perform with students and faculty. Given Ellie’s great love of music, the first visiting artist was chosen to work with the Music Department.

At assemblies, Rob conducted the Haven String Quartet in performing a beautiful rendition of Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” and breaking it down line-by-line to examine what makes the piece great. A few lucky students even got the chance to guest conduct. At an evening concert for the Foote community, the ensemble performed Rob’s original composition “And Furthermore They Bite,” which incorporates animal-themed poems that students had read in class. In attendance were Ellie Warburg’s husband, George, and other family members and classmates.

In music classes, Rob engaged students in a collaborative and energetic exercise called “The Music of Art,” in which students used a painting as inspiration to create an original piece of vocal music. Based on John Singleton Copley’s painting “The Rescue,” three third grade classes came up with different words and sound effects to create three distinct compositions. Rob’s message to students was, “You are all composers.”

After departing, Rob reflected on his whirlwind visit to Foote (10 classes, four assemblies and a faculty talk) in a Facebook post. “Just finished an amazing residency at the extraordinary Foote School…very rewarding to see what an elementary/middle school with a committed music program, great teachers, astonishing facilities and creative kids can accomplish.”

> Watch video of Rob Kapilow at Foote at www.footeschool.org/warburg

Foote News in Brief

Fourth grader Murphy McCleery conducts the Haven String Quartet during the Ellie Warburg Class of 1945 Visiting Artist Concert.

‘You Are All Composers’

Visiting artist Rob Kapilow working with fifth graders to create an original vocal composition in Ellen Velardi’s music class

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MOSAIC Presents a Persian Immersion

THE FOOTE COMMUNIT Y was treated to an imaginative and eye-opening presentation about Persian culture, history and politics on January 14 at an event sponsored by the school’s diversity committee, MOSAIC (Multicultural, Open-Minded, Supportive, Accepting, Inclusive Community.) The storytelling performance, titled “Two-Headed Imagomancy,” was an experience unlike anything Foote has seen. Iranian-born artists Shahrzad Changalvaee and Iman Raad presented a series of vignettes about Persian language, script and cultural exchanges between east and west before a crowd of 110 students, parents and others in the Sandine Theater. Behind the artists on stage was an enormous, hand-painted canvas onto which various images were projected. Assisting them in the storytelling were two Foote fourth graders. The performance flowed through a range of subjects—including a memorable sequence about the evolution of Farsi script on Pepsi bottles—to weave a loose narrative that was part lecture, part experimental art performance. “It feels so wonderful to be part of a community that is open and willing to learn about different cultures and ways of life,” Foote parent and MOSAIC co-chair Kiran Zaman said afterward. “I feel that many attendees walked away learning a lot about Iran, Persian culture and a completely different way of life that includes expectations aligned with ours and those that differ as well.”

Artist Iman Raad presenting before the Persian-inspired backdrop he created with fellow artist Shahrzad Changalvaee

Digital Foote Prints

THERE ARE MORE WAYS to connect with Foote online to keep up with the latest school and alumni happenings.

Two new school videos showcase Foote School’s dynamic learning community. Check them out at www.footeschool.org/videos.

Find the latest about campus happen-ings, Foote alums and school news on the Foote news blog. www.footeschool.org/news

Read Foote Prints online (current issue and back issues) at www.issuu.com/FooteNews

Like us on Facebook:

School site: www.facebook.com/FooteSchool

Alumni site: www.facebook.com/FooteAlums

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FooteSchool

Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/TheFooteSchool

Connect with Foote alums, parents and friends on LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/groups/2725183

Explore Foote’s roots and check out old photos on our archives blog: footearchives.blogspot.com

Take a virtual tour of campus with our interactive map: www.footeschool.org/about/campus-map

Browse our online curriculum guides: www.footeschool.org/lower-school/ curriculum www.footeschool.org/middle-school/curriculum

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Foote Teacher’s Novel Set for Publication

FIF TH GR ADE TEACHER Jake Burt has signed a book deal to publish his debut novel, a middle-grade fiction book titled We Are (So Not) the Trevors. The book is slated for a spring 2017 release by publisher Feiwel & Friends, the children’s and YA imprint of Macmillan. The book is about Nicki Demere, a pickpocket in the foster-care system who longs for a family of her own. When she’s finally placed with the Trevor family, it seems like she’s gotten exactly what she wanted. There’s a catch, though: the “Trevors” are being pursued by a killer and are about to enter the witness-protection program. Jake says of his protagonist, “Nicki owes her voice and appeal to the

students I have been blessed to work with during my years as a teacher, both in North Carolina and now at Foote. The way she navigates the minefield of her new middle school echoes the anxieties and triumphs of all children who exhaust themselves trying to fit in, even though they’re special enough to stand out.” Jake, who is represented by Newbery Medal-winning author Rebecca Stead of The Book Group, notes that it has been fun using his experiences as a writer to inform the work of his students. “See, kids?” he adds, “Even Mr. Burt has an editor.”

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Foote News in Brief

Jake Burt

FOOTE STUDENTS AND PARENTS enjoyed a fascinating lesson in illustration—and zoology—in November when Foote alumnus Elisha Cooper ’86 headlined the annual Book Fair. An award-winning illustrator and author, Elisha talked about his career path and demystified the book-writing process during an engaging talk in the Sandine Theater. He traced the inspiration for his latest book, an alphabet counting book titled 8, to his childhood on a farm in Bethany, where he spent hours sketching the cows and goats that grazed in the pastures. For this book, he wanted

to draw narwhals, pandas and the other animals in a more realistic way—not the “cute puddings” depicted in most children’s books about animals. So he did extensive research on his subjects, spending time sketching dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. “There are amazingly strange-looking animals to draw,” Elisha told the audience. “Children’s books—the business I’m in—often talk down to kids and show kids that animals are cute. But they are so much more.” On a large sketchpad on an easel, Elisha gave a drawing lesson, showing students how to make basic animal shapes by “smooshing circles together.” Afterward, while families enjoyed an ice cream social put on by the PTC, Elisha signed copies of 8, doodling caricatures of each child inside their copy of the book.

> Find more photos at www.footeschool.org/bookfair2015

Drawing Inspiration at the Book Fair

Elisha Cooper ’86 drawing for students and parents in the Sandine Theater, and signing copies of his book 8 (below)

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THE “R AMONA” BOOKS

BY BEVERLY CLEARY

We loved Henry Huggins, Ribsy and Ralph S. Mouse, too, but my son and I laughed the most when we read about Ramona Quimby. The early ones,

starting with Ramona the Pest, were our favorites. April 12 would have been Beverly Cleary’s 100th birthday. She has been declared a National Treasure by the Library of Congress. And best of all, she’s a fellow librarian. This is why Cleary herself thinks Ramona has been so beloved for more than 60 years: “Because she doesn’t learn to be a better girl. I was so annoyed with the books in my childhood, because children always learned to be ‘better’ and, in my experience, they didn’t. They just grew, and so I started Ramona… and she has never reformed. Her intentions are good, but she has a lot of imagination, and things sometimes don’t turn out the way she expected.”

—Lynda Johnson

THE NIGHT GARDENER

BY THE FAN BROTHERS

The Night Gardener is a magnificent debut picture book by The Fan Brothers. Reality and magic blend seamlessly each morning as the

people of Grimloch Lane awake to see trees carved into the shapes of animals. Who is carving these masterpieces? Will the town ever be the same? With each page turn colors become bolder, smiles fill faces and it becomes very clear that one person, even one gesture can change the world.

—Jennifer Friedman

THE GHOSTS OF TUPELO L ANDING

BY SHEIL A TURNAGE

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage is one of the nominees for the Nutmeg Book Award for 2016. It is one of the most delightful books I

have ever read. Sheila Turnage has developed enchanting characters and a story that pulls at your heart strings and has you roaring with laughter at the same time. It is an adventure and a mystery wrapped up with just the right amount of southern charm. It is a fantastic sequel to Three Times Lucky.

—Katie Santomasso

Talking About a Revolution

L ADY GAGA CAME TO NEW HAVEN on October 24 to launch an “emotion revolution” and several Foote students took part in the event. The pop star headlined an Emotion Revolution Summit, hosted by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. The goal was to build awareness of the critical role emotions play in young people’s learning, decision-making and aca-demic achievement. Four Foote ninth graders joined 200 high school students from around the country for panel discussions, workshops and the signing of an emotion revolution charter. As part of the conference, each student was asked to think of a way he or she could improve the emotional wellbeing of stu-dents in his or her school community.The ninth graders shared those ideas in a lunchtime conversation. The students’ ideas ranged from helping peers to bet-ter understand the seriousness of eating disorders to encouraging more students to see the benefits of exercise in reduc-ing stress and improving focus. Ninth grader Sebastian Shin wants to devise a system where a portion of sales from say, donuts, could go to fund a chari-table cause. And ninth grader Maddie Mulligan wants to help new students be accepted into the Foote community. “I’ve had personal experience with that because I’ve been new four times,” she said.

Books We LoveRecommendations from Foote’s Librarians

Ninth grader Grace Knight with Lady Gaga and Marc Brackett (left)

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Connecting the Dots

ALONG WITH MANY CELEBR ATIONS, Foote’s centennial year has provided a fascinating opportunity for students to learn about school history and life in New Haven in the early 20th century. At every grade level, children have deepened their understanding of the school’s roots and why Mrs. Foote’s child-centered approach to learning was considered so radical at the time she pioneered it. The lessons have allowed students to make connections between past and present and to see that, while much has changed, some very important Foote qualities remain the same.

A Banner Year for Foote

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BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE

In September, students were visited by three figures from Foote School’s past: school founder Martha Babcock Foote (aka Head of School Carol Maoz), Helen Putnam Blake (Curriculum Coordinator Lauren Goldberg) and former New Haven mayor Frank Rice (Assistant Head of Middle School Liam Considine). Dressed in early 20th-century costumes, the visitors re-enacted Foote’s founding, dramatizing how a group of visionary women grew a small, home-based school into the far-reaching community Foote is today.

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ESTIMATING TREE AGE

To complement their study of ecology and to build math skills, John Cunningham’s fifth grade science classes set out to answer the question: Are there any trees on the Foote campus that are 100 years old (or older)? By identifying large trees by species, measuring their circumference and estimating their age based on growth rates, the students concluded there are roughly 15 trees more than a century old, with several close to 150 years in age.

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EXPLORING THE ARCHIVES

Seventh graders visited the Alumni Programs Office to investigate the Anna Huntington Deming ’35 Archives. With help from volunteer archivist Muffie Clement Green ’61, students perused copies of Foote Notes from the 1930s, saw early renderings of the school’s architectural plans and learned how Foote gave refuge to British children sent overseas to escape World War II.

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COMPARING THEN AND NOW

Third graders learned about school history in October by interviewing someone who has lived through more than half of it as a Foote student and teacher: Lisa Totman ’56. Students asked thoughtful questions such as: How much homework did she have? (45 minutes a night—and that was just math!) Was there a playground? (Yes, but it was an asphalt lot). And, did students learn foreign languages? (Not until the upper grades, when boys took Latin and girls took French).

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CELEBR ATING FOOTE’S BIRTHDAY

The whole school celebrated Foote’s 100th birthday on February 16 (the 100th day of school) with a Kindergarten-Grade 9 buddy parade; games, singing and dancing in the Hosley Gym; and 600 cupcakes (one for every student and faculty member in the school).

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PL ANTING FOR THE FUTURE

Under the guidance of gardener and retired Kindergarten teacher Violet Talbot, first graders and their seventh grade buddies beautified Foote last fall by planting 100 daffodil bulbs around campus. Afterward, the buddies sat on the grass reading together in the autumn sunshine.

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> Watch video of the History Alive re-enactment at www.footeschool.org/historyalive.

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to classroom visits. The classes I saw were thoughtful and creative. The kids were, as promised, happy, engaged and having fun. Both my granddaughters, to my great joy, bested me in the classroom activities.

After snack, I made the difficult choice of which minicourse to attend. While the music and art selections tempted me, and the excitement of science and technology was enticing, I decided to go back in time to my new love’s beginnings; along with 25 or so others, I joined Liam Considine and Lauren Goldberg around a Harkness table in the innovatively designed Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building. There, we learned how in the first decades of the 20th century, New Haven school leaders embraced enlightened beliefs and practices about education that emphasized experience-based, child-centered learning. This progressive thinking, derived from the work of John Dewey and other influential leaders, guided Martha Babcock Foote as she established Foote School in 1916.

The child-run, all-school assembly highlighted the connection between these progressive beginnings and the school’s present practices by showcasing confident students artistically and enthusiastically reading imaginative poems written by former Foote students from the school’s early years until today. This demonstration of the century-long

OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS I had heard a lot about her. My granddaughters, Lily and Ada, happily regaled me with reports of the stimulating and engrossing activities (the girls called them fun) she afforded them. She read to them; took them on trips; taught them to write and draw and sing; and fueled their curiosity about the world. My son and daughter-in-law provided many snippets of her attentiveness to their children’s needs and interests. I heard she was friendly, smart, creative, engaging and attractive. As wonderful as this sounded I certainly was not ready to fall in love with her; after all she is 100 years old. But with one visit I am smitten. She was remarkable when she was born and she is even more so now. I love Foote School!

Grandparents are pushovers for whatever makes their grandchildren happy; I am no exception. But as a retired educator I am not such a pushover for schools. I have planned, implemented and attended many grandparent day events. That said, Foote School’s 2015 Grandparents Day was wonderfully organized, entertaining, informative and engaging—and it was fun!

The staff and parent volunteers created a welcoming mood that, if the mix of visitors at my table was representative, was shared by all 400-plus grandparents and special friends in attendance. Carol Maoz’s welcome was the perfect sendoff

Grandparents Day

Falling for Foote BY JERRY GORENAbove: Jerry Goren with granddaughter Lily Goren, Grade 5

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continuum of the school’s emphasis on creativity—and its focus on the growth of mind and spirit—was joyfully exhibited by students in the classroom, as audience members and on stage. It confirmed for me that the school’s original values still guide the thinking and practice of teaching at Foote today.

As I have been since hearing about her in the early years of Lily and Ada’s schooling, I am still pleased that Foote is a happy, nurturing experience for them. However, when I left the Hosley Gym, I knew there was more to it. By working hard to be true to its progressive beginnings, to the vision and forethought of its founder, Foote teachers, administra-tors and staff continue to create a feeling of community that Martha Babcock Foote would proudly recognize.

As I said, I didn’t plan on falling for this old girl, but I think I have.

Jerry Goren is a retired educator who served as principal of the independent Oakwood School in North Hollywood, California, and coordinator of the Law and Public Service Magnet at Susan Miller Dorsey High School in Los Angeles. He is the proud grandfather of Lily Goren ’20 and Ada Goren ’23.

> Find more photos from Grandparents Day at www.footeschool.org/GrandparentsDay2015

In the classes I visited, kids were happy, engaged and having fun.

Clockwise from top left: Second grader Arjun Agarwal with special friend Mayuir Shaw; Third grader Dani Aseme with grandmother Barbara Johnson; Herman Bershtein with his five grandchildren, from left: Hunter, Grade 7; Shayann, Kindergarten; Cody, Grade 1; Dylan, Grade 4; and Richard, Grade 9; Kindergartner Poppy Shor with grandmother Rosamund Zander

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Support Program, led a session on executive function and ways to support children with challenges in that area.

Afterward, faculty members gathered in the Hosley Gym to compare notes from the sessions over lunch, a collaborative process that many teachers found as valuable as the work-shops themselves.

Foote School has long supported the professional develop-ment of its faculty by providing funds for teachers to pursue workshops, conferences, graduate education courses and summer sabbaticals that enhance classroom curriculum. And today, teachers participate in a growing number of activities to improve their teaching.

Twice a year, dedicated professional development days, like the one last November, bring experts to campus to lead discussions on topics such as emotional intelligence (Marc Brackett from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence in 2015) and how to handle sensitive conversations around race, class and gender in the classroom (Rosetta Lee from Seattle Girls’ School in 2014).

Foote teachers themselves serve as experts at all-faculty meetings. Science teacher Leslie Long recently gave an enlightening talk about the science and psychology of eating disorders and how to spot signs of them in children. Tim Blauvelt, Hayden Holt, Megan Williams and Beth Mello shared insights from the annual People of Color Confer-ence, hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools, where they joined faculty from around the nation in important discussions about race and identity.

Professional development takes many other forms at Foote, too. The Collaborative Mentoring Program was developed to help new teachers learn from more experienced colleagues through monthly discussions and workshops. Each summer, faculty and staff read thought-provoking books selected by the Professional Development Committee and discuss them at the school year’s opening faculty meeting.

ON NOVEMBER 13 , students were off from school so Foote’s faculty and staff could spend a day learning from special guest speakers and from each other.

Leading the faculty enrichment workshops on campus that day was a diverse slate of presenters, many of them cur-rent or former Foote parents. Writer and researcher Annie Murphy Paul offered research and strategies on developing assessment tools that improve student learning. New York Times education contributor Laura Pappano shared insights from her research into social class and the qualities that make kids successful.

Foote’s consulting school psychiatrist, Michael Kaplan, held a workshop on anxiety in children and how it impacts student learning. Cathy Pamelard, chair of Foote’s Learning

Professional Development is giving Foote teachers

more and more opportunities to improve their craft

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Foote faculty in a workshop on executive function. From left, art chair Karla Matheny, Spanish teacher Sally Nunnally, Learning Support Program director Cathy Pamelard and Spanish teachers Leah Andelsmith and Hayden Holt.

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Goldberg, who co-chairs the Professional Development Committee. After reviewing the Lower School language arts curriculum in 2013, for instance, teachers researched several literacy programs before selecting Fundations, a comprehensive reading, spelling and handwriting program designed by Wilson Language Training, as the best match for Foote. Every Kindergarten, first- and second-grade teacher has since been trained in Fundations.

“We were doing good work in teaching kids to read and write but each teacher was using her own expertise and it wasn’t as consistent as it could have been, or aligned with the strategies the Learning Support Program was using,” Lauren explains. Fundations works for Foote because it’s adaptable: Newer teachers can use the materials to go step-by-step while experienced teachers can use it as a guiding framework.

“All of this speaks to the fact that we support our teachers as lifelong learners,” Lauren says. “Foote is a learning community.”

> Watch video of the Alexandra Wittner’s Kindergartners doing yoga at www.footeschool.org/yoga.

Retired Mixed Age Group teacher Sue Delaney says profes-sional development has gotten a boost under Head of School Carol Maoz. “It has always been very important to Carol. She feels everybody has a responsibility to improve them-selves,” says Sue, who chaired the Professional Development Committee for many years.

Kindergarten teacher Alexandra Wittner used professional development funds this year to attend a one-day workshop on yoga and mindfulness in the classroom. The harmful effects of stress on adults are well-documented, Alexandra explains, but only recently have researchers begun examining how stress impacts children, and investigating the best ways to manage it. Now each day at transition times, Alexandra leads her students in a few minutes of breathing exercises and child-friendly yoga poses with names like rag doll, geyser and star pose.

“We used to do shake-our-bodies-out, or Simon Says, or other exercises,” she says. “But having them practice breath-ing and being aware of their body and their space has made them more centered and ready to learn.”

At Foote, professional development is largely driven by the faculty’s interests, says Curriculum Coordinator Lauren

Foote faculty and staff compare notes on Professional Development Day in November.

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Horizons at Foote

Shafton Haley ’13

SENIOR AT HAMDEN HALL

Having been at Foote my whole life, I felt it was time for me to find a way to give back to the community that I loved so much. From working at Horizons I have discovered that I enjoy teaching youth. As my senior year comes to an end and I start to think about possible career choices, teaching has become something that I can see myself doing. I also realized how much I like being a mentor and someone who children younger than me can confide in. It is important for everyone to have someone who they can trust in and out of the classroom.

ONE OF THE BEST THINGS about Horizons at Foote, the school’s sum-mer program for low-income New Haven public school students, is that several Foote alumni have joined as teaching assistants and interns. During its inaugural summer in 2015, Horizons had 10 Foote alums teaching literacy, math, art and swimming to 48 bright and eager children. Their dedication has continued throughout this school year, as they’ve attended community-building gatherings for Horizons families held on Saturday mornings. We asked four Foote alums and one current ninth grader why they chose to teach in Horizons, and what the experience has taught them. Here is what they said:

‘ Every Student Should Have a Chance to Love Learning’

Maddie Buhl ’09

SENIOR AT MIAMI UNIVERSIT Y, OHIO

I believe education is of utmost importance and every stu-dent should be given a chance to develop a love of learning. Horizons is amazing because it is more than just a six-week program; it is a year-long support system. I am studying to become a teacher and thought Horizons would be a great opportunity to learn more and further develop my teaching skills. Horizons has taught me to focus on the strengths of each child, rather than the weaknesses, and build from there. I have learned that focusing on individual children’s inter-ests, combined with hands-on learning, can make learning so much more meaningful and fun. Horizons has made me want to pursue a career in inner-city education.

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> To learn more about Horizons at Foote, visit www.footeschool.org/Horizons or facebook.com/horizonsatfoote.

Maddie Milazzo ’16

NINTH GR ADER AT FOOTE

I started out working at Horizons grudgingly but as soon as I met the kids, it was love at first sight. I learned that I really enjoy working with kids, and maybe want to pursue a teaching career. I learned how to work with other people, not only children, but teachers who had taught me in the past. Most importantly, I learned that trying new things is the most important thing you can do in life. Working with these kids has been such a privilege and has opened so many doors for me.

Harrison Lapides ’12

SENIOR AT CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL

Foote was a school, a playground and a home for me for the 10 years I was there and the eight that I was not. I wanted children to be able to have the experience that I had, with a caring community and a strong support system. I have learned so much from my time at Horizons. I have learned my strengths and weaknesses, a lot about learning and how your environment affects how you learn. Finally, I learned that it’s important to explore everything, because I would never have guessed how much Horizons would end up meaning to me.

Anika Zetterberg ’13

SENIOR AT CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL

I’ve learned that sometimes it’s hard to communicate with people about certain things, but there’s always a way to come to a place where you understand one another. I know that there are some cases where understanding each other is incredibly important, and being a swim teacher has helped me learn that. I need to be able to relate to the children and have them understand what I’m saying, and I also need to be able to push them enough so that they learn while staying comfortable and safe.

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Drama

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To mark Foote’s 100th year, seventh and eighth graders in December staged “A Centennial Celebration of One-Act Plays” in the Sandine Theater. Drama Chair Julian Schlusberg selected a farce, a murder mystery and a musical — a range of works that was challenging, entertaining and provided good material for drama class discussions. Clockwise from left: Page Wildridge (left) and Sylvie Moran in Lucille Fletcher’s Sorry, Wrong Number; Talya Braverman and Jake Nadzam in The Diary of Adam and Eve by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock; and Nick Perkins (left), Serena Sandweiss and Hilal Zoberi in Anton Chekhov’s A Marriage Proposal.

Centennial

In its second half-century, The Foote School

reached out into the world

Branching Out

18 | Foote Prints

Spring 2016 | 19

hen Frank Perrine visited The Foote School in 1967 to interview for the headmaster’s job, he observed an intellectual spark running through

the school. “There was something there, a spirit to the place; you could feel it,” he later recalled. When he became Foote’s fifth head of school at the age of 32, Mr. Perrine decided that his central mission would be “to keep the flame flickering in all those kids and to make it grow brighter.”

The late 1960s found Foote on solid and fertile ground on Loomis Place. The architecturally modern campus provided a haven for learning, with facilities that teachers and students could only dream of when the school was on Saint Ronan Street. Spacious classrooms with floor-to-ceiling windows looked out onto wooded grounds. A dedicated library, the school’s first, provided thousands of new books to feed children’s curiosity. And a centrally located gym and playing field fostered an athletics program to nurture body as well as mind.

If the school’s first 50 years were about Mrs. Foote’s acorn taking root, its second 50 years saw the great oak branching out. By reaching out to new families and investing in finan-cial aid, Foote became more diverse ethnically, economically and in the learning styles and life experiences of its students. Community programs launched in the 1990s, Footebridge and STARS, brought together Foote and New Haven public school teachers and students for collaborative mentoring and shared learning, deepening Foote’s connection to the city.

New modern-language choices were added—Spanish, Russian (briefly) and Chinese—to help prepare students for a changing world. Community service projects took learning off-campus to area homeless shelters, homes for the elderly and soup kitchens. A vast alumni network was created from

1960s This photograph is from a series by architects at Perkins + Will, who along with architect Carleton Granbery designed Foote’s award-winning campus.

First- and second-grade teacher Margy Lamere with students in the community garden; (background) Detail from a traditional Chinese painting given to Foote on one of the first visits to Huizhen Academy

scratch in the 1970s to help Foote’s rapidly growing family of graduates stay connected to one another, and to the place they had come to value so much. And the farthest-reaching branch of all, the China program, has linked Foote to sister schools on the other side of the globe, whose students visit Foote each fall and host our ninth graders each spring for thought-provoking cultural exchanges.

All that is a far cry from the parlors and playrooms where Mrs. Foote’s little school began its journey a century ago. And yet, one could easily imagine Mrs. Foote embracing all of these changes had she lived to see them. A surprising number of teaching methods used in Foote’s early days— inquiry, hands-on learning, authentic interactions with the world—remain central at Foote today.

Of course, the school has also evolved in ways that Foote’s founders might not have imagined—technology that allows Foote students to Skype in real time with children in China, for instance, or the scientifically based assessments that are measuring Foote students’ curiosity, creativity, ethics and other non-cognitive skills.

For all that is new, though, the spirit of discovery and joyful learning that launched Foote in 1916 is evident all around the school. A visitor will still find students on their hands and knees measuring out the length of a blue whale on the sidewalk, building models of world monuments by hand or acting out Greek myths as they did a century ago in Mrs. Foote’s rented garage. One hundred years later, the flame that she lit—the same one Mr. Perrine witnessed on his visit in 1967—burns as brightly as ever.

> Read more about Foote’s history online at footearchives.blogspot.com.

W

1968 In its 11th year on Loomis Place, The Foote School grows to 317 students and 46 faculty and staff. Annual-giving income reaches $28,200. Student financial aid totals $25,995 and Foote’s endowment is $125,000.

1969 Former Headmistress Winifred Sturley dies at age 81.

1968 Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis

20 | Foote Prints

School founder Martha Babcock Foote and Headmaster Frank Perrine at the dedication of the Upper School Building in 1969

The Glee Club with music teacher Jean Shepler in the 1966–1967 school year

1969 Woodstock concert

Children’s Television Workshop introduces “Sesame Street”

Anne-Liese WellershausTeacher and Alumni Secretary, 1936–1970

Anne-Liese Wellershaus came to New Haven

from her native Germany as a caregiver for

a Foote family, and went on to a remarkable

career at the school that spanned five

decades. Over the years, Ms. Wellershaus

served as Lower School tutor, playground

supervisor, chief of supplies and taught

sewing and folk dancing. As World War II

escalated, she traveled back to Germany

and, fearful of what she saw developing

there, she departed for the U.S. on one of

the last boats to leave Europe. She retired

in 1969 but returned to serve as Alumni

Association secretary, compiling from

scratch an almost complete list of Foote

graduates, with information about their

children, careers and other tidbits. At the

age of 72, she moved back to Germany

to marry her childhood sweetheart, leading

Headmaster Frank Perrine to proclaim

an all-school holiday in her honor on

May 28, 1971.

trailblazers

1960s

Spring 2016 | 21

1973 School founder Martha Babcock Foote dies at age 93.

Foote buys four acres on Highland Street that housed the St. Francis Orphan Asylum for $130,000 and makes half that amount back by selling off three building lots along Edgehill Road. 1975 Jumping on a national craze, a student streaks through the May Day celebration in the gym, shocking and amusing the large crowd.

1976 The school posts a $120,000 deficit, leading to an “austerity year” in which teachers give up salary increases, classroom budgets are slashed and additional cutbacks are ordered.

1979 First Alumni Reunion

Foote purchases its first computer—an Apple II—with money donated by a family. Fourth and fifth graders form a computer club.

A shop class in 1972

(left) A production of Treasure Island in 1976

(below) A Foote Notes cover from 1974 and a yearbook cover from 1975

(bottom) Floor hockey with Ted Willis, Foote’s longtime athletic director, in the late 1970s

1976 Jimmy Carter defeats Gerald Ford to become 39th president

Apple founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne

1974 President Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal

1970 First edition of Foote Prints is published, edited by Foote alum and parent Isabelle Tuttle DeWitt ’40. To readers worried that Foote would change after moving to Loomis Place, Isabelle wrote, “The same excitement, enthusiasm and informality (with practical bounds) still abides.”

1971 First ninth-grade class enrolled. The 15 students studied a core curriculum with a theme of “Wilderness and the City.”

1970s

1980s

1985A student-made time capsule is placed beneath the cornerstone of the new North Building, to be opened in 2035. Contained within are student letters to their future selves, self-portraits of what they think they’ll look like in 50 years and a tape of ninth graders singing “When I’m 64.”

1986The “Big Toy” arrives on the Upper School play-ground, and is put together by parents and staff.

1987 Teachers and students form the Community Caring Coalition, meeting every Wednesday to clean computer screens, organize book closets, plant bulbs and make other campus improve-ments. Fifth-grade recycling program starts.

1980 First annual Foote Road Race is held. A 10K and one-mile kids’ run raise $1,000 for financial aid.

On a national French test, Foote students place second, fourth, fifth and sixth in the U.S.

1981 Foote Summer Theater program debuts.

1984 School launches $1.1 million Building for the Future campaign to construct a new classroom building and expand endowment and scholarship funds.

1987Foote celebrates the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution with student recitations of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” the preamble to the Constitution and a student essay that won honorable mention in a nationwide contest.

1988An increasing demand for after-school care prompts Foote to offer afternoon mini-courses, including basketry and “incredible edibles.”

1989A summer tornado devastates campus trees. The Student Council collects $17 in a plastic-tree receptacle toward purchasing new trees, and fourth grader Mike Bright collects $58 wearing a homemade tree costume.

1982 Michael Jackson releases Thriller

Fourth grader Mike Bright ’95 in 1989 raising money to purchase new trees for the campus

An all-school photo from the 1980–1981 school year

1989 The Simpsons premieres on Fox

The Berlin Wall falls

(right) English teacher Susan Bishop breaks ground on the North Building in 1985.

(far right) Cleaning a computer screen in 1987 as part of the Community Caring Coalition

22 | Foote Prints

1990s

1994 For the first time, the school year begins with Project Week. Sixth graders build a Roman aque-duct at the Eli Whitney Museum, ninth graders spend four days on Cape Cod and eighth graders go overnight to Camp Woodstock.

1995 Foote begins STARS (Schools Together for Arts ResourceS), a collaborative Saturday morning program that brings together students and teachers from Foote and New Haven public schools.

Foote’s Art Department wins the Program Standards Award from the National Art Education Association, the highest honor for a school’s visual arts program.

1996 The school launches Footebridge, a summer literacy and math enrichment program for New Haven public school students entering first and second grades.

Installation of a campus computer network provides internet access to students and faculty.

1998 Foote inaugurates sister-school relationship with Huizhen Academy in China.

The Annual Fund receives a record $300,051 in donations—a threefold increase since 1990.

The Parent Teacher Council helps fund a new read-aloud program to stress the importance of parents reading to their children long after they can read to themselves.

A sculpture designed by Eamon Roche ’80

1990 President Bush and Boris Yeltsin proclaim a formal end to the Cold War

1998 First Harry Potter book released in the U.S.

1990 Foote celebrates its first Earth Day with the creation of a new campus flag with the words “Long Live the Earth.”

1991 An expanded library is opened and dedicated to Headmaster Frank Perrine.

1992 Foote celebrates its 75th birthday with 75 homemade cakes on the 75th day of school. The student-led “75 Steps for Community Service” delivers cupcakes to Columbus House and potted plants to elderly residents.

Frank Perrine retires after 25 years at Foote. Jean Lamont becomes head of school.

Foote holds its first Grandparents Day.

1993 The Foote School History Project is launched to document the early years of the school, resulting in the publication of The History of The Foote School by Reverdy Whitlock.

A new sculpture designed by Eamon Roche ’80 and inspired by the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated by the Class of 1992.

Jean SheplerMusic teacher, 1953–1990

Jean Shepler inspired generations of students

during her 37-year teaching career. In addi-

tion to her music classes, Jean conducted the

orchestra and the Glee Club, taught fourth

graders to play recorder, choreographed May

Day, organized the seventh grade opera trip,

gave piano and violin lessons and staged

Gilbert and Sullivan musicals. A native of

England who earned a scholarship to the

Royal Academy of Music at age 16, Mrs.

Shepler taught at Hartt College of Music in

Hartford before coming to Foote in 1953. In

her amphitheater-like classroom, students

learned about famous composers and music

theory, sang from the Fireside Book of Folk

Songs and played an astonishing variety

of instruments: Orff instruments, glocken-

spiels, tuned drums and more. “Mrs. Shepler

was the best music teacher—the best teacher

period. My brother Fred and I still break into

choruses of ‘Hallelujah, I’m a Bum’ every

now and then,” Kendy Alford-Madden ’63

wrote in a 2010 tribute. Added Elizabeth

Daley Draghi ’77: “I begged my parents to

let me have piano lessons primarily because

I wanted to play like Mrs. Shepler. She gave

me a lifelong appreciation and love for music

of all genres.”

trailblazers

(far left) Frank Perrine and Jean Lamont at graduation in 1992

(left) Sixth graders build a Roman aqueduct during Project Week in 1994

Spring 2016 | 23

2000s

2000 Construction begins on a new theater, art studios and music classrooms, and the gym is expanded.

2001 The drama curriculum is expanded to every grade under new drama chair Julian Schlusberg.

The Campaign for Foote—to enhance the school’s physical plant and increase endowment for scholarships and faculty salaries—passes its $5 million goal.

2002 Foote receives high marks in its reaccreditation from the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools. “Standing on Loomis Place at 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, one clearly feels the energy and enthusiasm as 470 students at the Foote School begin a week of classes.”

2003 A cenotaph sculpture is erected to commemorate the tragedies of 9/11. A gift from the Class of 2002, the sculpture features moveable granite tiles engraved with poems about the event by each member of the ninth-grade class.

2001 9/11 attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania

traditions

The Class of 2002 by the 9/11 Cenotaph Science teacher Lynne Valentine dissects owl pellets on Grandparents Day in 2004

Foote students and teachers in China in 2004

Diversity at Foote

Beginning in the 1970s, Foote undertook a

series of efforts to make the school more

inclusive and attract a diverse mix of stu-

dents. Foote benefitted from the Inner-City

Scholarships for Independent Schools

(ISIS) initiative, launched in 1969 to provide

funds for New Haven minority students

to attend independent schools which they

otherwise could not afford. In the 1970s, the

program provided $44,615 in scholarships

to 20 Foote students. When ISIS dissolved,

Foote received the largest share of its funds,

around $87,000. Expanding outreach efforts,

Admissions Directors Betsy Welch and

Laura Altshul visited inner-city churches and

community centers to encourage families

to consider applying to Foote and to share

information about scholarships. Those

trust-building efforts changed the face of

Foote. By 2003, the school enrolled 137

students of color, twice the number enrolled

a decade earlier. Foote has grown more

economically diverse too, with 22 percent

of students this year receiving a combined

$1.75 million in financial aid.

2004 Ninth graders travel to China for the first time, visiting Huizhen Academy and historic and cultural sites.

Jean Lamont retires. David Feldman becomes head of school.

2006 Foote forms a partnership with a new sister school in China: Yali Middle School in Changsha.

2007 David Feldman departs after three years. C. Dary Dunham becomes interim head of school while the Board searches for a permanent replacement.

Foote switches to environmentally nontoxic cleaning products, organic lawn care and energy- efficient light bulbs.

2009 Carol Maoz becomes Foote’s ninth head of school.

Foote purchases 3.8 acres from St. Francis Home for Children on Highland Street, freeing up space to build an additional athletic field and a new science and technology building.

24 | Foote Prints

2012 Falco’s PRIDE (Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Dependability, Excellence) debuts as a shared language for schoolwide conversations about expectations and doing one’s best.

Chinese is added to the modern-language curriculum.

2015 Horizons at Foote begins a six-week, full- scholarship enrichment program for New Haven public school students, with plans to grow to 144 children in nine grades (K–8) by 2021.

2016 Foote celebrates its 100th year with a host of commemorative learning and community-building activities, including a 100th birthday party on the 100th day of school.

2015 U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of marriage equality

Kindergartners and their ninth-grade buddies cut the ribbon on the Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building

Head of School Carol Maoz with students in the community garden

Science teacher John Cunningham explores the West River with a ninth-grade biology class

2010 Kindergartners make maple syrup from Foote’s sugar maples under the guidance of Business Manager Jay Cox.

A community garden with a butterfly nursery is planted on Highland Street to serve as a place of inquiry for students and a source of fresh produce and flowers for faculty.

Foote purchases its first interactive smart board, for a Kindergarten class, and adds more across the campus with support from the PTC.

2011 Construction begins on the Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building to enhance Middle School science facilities, support the school’s environmental values and serve as a teaching tool.

2012 The Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building opens.

Field Day

Field Day is one of Foote’s oldest traditions,

connecting families across generations as

members of the Maroon and Grey teams.

As early as 1932, Foote Notes tells of a Field

Day with the two teams playing field hockey,

soccer and football. “The Girls’ Red Soccer

team of the fourth, fifth and sixth grades

won the soccer game.” In the 1970s, the

Lower and Upper School field days were

combined. The 1980s saw the start of the

culminating final relay, in which the fastest

boys and girls from each grade (and each

team) compete in an all-school relay, cheered

on by the whole community. As to the scoring

of Field Day, that remains a mystery left

to the physical education faculty’s creative

tallying.

traditions

Spring 2016 | 25

2010s(left) Foote’s new Luckey climber, installed in 2014 by alum Spencer Luckey ’85, sits near the climber designed by his father, Tom Luckey, in 1998.

26 | Foote Prints

100th Birthday Party

The whole school celebrated Foote’s Centennial with a birthday party on February 16 — the 100th school day of the 100th year. The celebration began with Kindergarten and ninth-grade buddies parading through campus (undaunted by a driving rain) and into the Hosley Gym, where students danced the Hokey Pokey and played Pin the Feather on Falco. Afterward, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Foote School and got to enjoy a cupcake and a goody bag. Find more photos at www.footeschool.org/100thbirthday.

Spring 2016 | 27

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO CELEBRATING 100

YEARS OF FOOTE SCHOOL and we hope you are too! Please join us on May 13, 14 & 15, 2016 for Foote Centennial Weekend. We are throwing a big party to celebrate our incredible school community with three days of special events and activities for the whole family. You can register online at www.footeschool.org/Centennial (where you’ll find detailed information, including a list of who’s coming) or by phone at 203-777-3464. We hope you’ll come home to Foote and help us celebrate a century of gladly learning.

Centennial Weekend

28 | Foote Prints

You are Invited!

Spring 2016 | 29

Friday, May 13Visit a class or take a student-led tour

Wine and cheese reception

Class dinners

Faculty/former faculty dinner at the Graduate Club

Jazz bassist and composer Ben Allison ’82 in concert at Firehouse 12

Saturday, May 14Foote softball and baseball vs. Hopkins

Maypole and Sword dancing

Picnic lunch with live bluegrass music

Family fun with Legos, rubberstamping, giant bubbles and more

Minicourses• “In the Organic Garden” Pauline Lord ’64

• “Life in the Antarctic” Dr. William Silva ’66

• “From Foote to Charter School” Diana Smith ’73

• “Think Globally” Clinton White ’82

• “Sustainable Sushi” Bun Lai ’84, Ted Lai ’87, Mie Lai ’91

• And more! Full list on our website

Visit with your favorite Heads of School Frank Perrine, Jean Lamont, Carol Maoz

Evening Gala Dinner

BBQ food truck by Eamon Roche ’80

Program and dancing

Centennial Weekend Schedule

Sunday, May 15Brunch

Gathering to Remember

Fore for Foote PTC golf tournament at The Course at Yale

Please register online at www.footeschool.org/Centennial

Painting Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” has been a project of Foote first and second graders for many years. These examples are details by Devin Seli ’17, Victoria Dugan ’17 and Rebecca Radebold ’15.

30 | Foote Prints

Alumni Award

1993

Hanna Holborn Gray ’43EDUCATOR

1994

Guido Calabresi ’46JUDGE & EDUCATOR

1995

Ted Sizer ’45 *EDUCATOR

* Deceased

1996

Anna Miles Jones ’41 *EDUCATOR

1997

Nancy Osterweis Alderman ’52ENVIRONMENTALIST

1998

Anne Tyler Calabresi ’48COMMUNIT Y LEADER

1999

Chase Twichell ’64POET

2000 Alums in the Arts

Jim Bigwood ’68

Mark Conklin ’76

Marcus Giamatti ’77

Paul Giamatti ’82

Ruth Ozeki Lounsbury ’70

Stephen Tag Mendillo ’80

Stephen W. Mendillo ’54

Marcus Stern ’75

EACH YEAR SINCE 1993 , Foote School has given the Alumni Achievement Award to a person who has made a significant difference in his or her profession and in the lives of others. For this, our centennial year, we will not award the prize but instead pause to look back on the impressive list of accomplished alumni winners and the positive impacts they have made in the fields of education, the arts, human rights, science and more. We will resume giving the award in 2017.

Nancy Osterweis Alderman ’52 Ruth Ozeki Lounsbury ’70Hanna Holborn Gray ’43

Spring 2016 | 31

2006

Lisa Farrel Totman ’56EDUCATOR

2007

Samuel Babbitt ’42EDUCATOR

2008

Perry Miller ’58INNOVATOR IN MEDICAL

INFORMATICS

2009

Nicholas Rostow ’64L AW YER & DIPLOMAT

2010

Bruce Conklin ’75GENETICIST

2011

Cathya Wing Stephenson ’51EDUCATOR

2012

Massimo Calabresi ’82JOURNALIST

2013

Lisa Sandine Schuba ’83EDUCATOR

2014

Ted Crosby ’59EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING

COUNTRIES

2015

Margaret “Muffie” Clement

Green ’61 ARCHIVIST

Leland Torrence ’68BUILDING CONSULTANT

2001 Alums in Music

Ben Allison ’82

Brian Drutman ’77

Gerry Hemingway ’69

Brooks Kerr ’66

Elinor Blake Zanes ’80

2002

Elisha Cooper ’86AUTHOR & ILLUSTR ATOR

2003 NO AWARD PRESENTED

2004

Bertil Hille ’54SCIENTIST & EDUCATOR

2005

Foote Class of 1935

Ben Allison ’82 Bruce Conklin ’75 Ted Crosby ’59 (right)

Front row: Casey Eskridge, daughter of Elizabeth Broadus Eskridge ’88; Lexi Baez, daughter of Tim Gabbard ’05; Theo, Natalie and Garrett Curtis, step-cousins of Wendy Fischer Magnan ’82 and Brad Fischer ’80; Charlie Sudmyer, son of Amy Stephens Sudmyer ’89; Nicholas Carpenter, son of Debbie Fong Carpenter ’82; Will Geballe, son of Joshua Geballe ’90; Julien and Sophie Gangloff, children of Amy Caplan ’88; Nia Bradford, daughter of Kossouth Bradford ’87; Alaysia Kittrell, daughter of John Kittrell ’92; Keillor and Archer Fitton, sons of Peter Fitton ’89.

Second row: Evie Pearson, niece of Julia Getman ’85; Sam Mason, son of Talbot Welles ’81; Sam Osborne, son of Seth Osborne ’85; Barrett and Marley Hansen, children of Christopher Hansen ’86; Stella Wareck, daughter of John Wareck ’84; Malachai and Levi York, sons of Annie Wareck ’85; Emmanuel and Matias Candelo-Diaz, nephews of Yami Diaz Linhart ’99; Benjamin and Abigail Kruger, children of Avery Grauer ’87; Gemma and Julia Grauer, daughters of Jon Grauer ’85; Graham Possick, son of Jeff Possick ’89.

Third row: Sam Lovejoy, nephew of Laura Lovejoy ’84 (and cousin once-removed of Laura Kautz Baker ’62); Penn and Josie Cancro, children of Allyx Schiavone ’85; Neal and Rohan Shivakumar, sons of Claire Priest ’86; Wolf, Felix, Kurt and Penelope Boone, children of Sarah Netter Boone ’89; Miia Brooks, cousin of Preston Brooks ’79, Catherine Brooks Laing ’82 and Nathaniel Brooks ’87; Clyde Luckey, son of Spencer Luckey ’85; Lucy and Ella Peterson, daughters of Owen Luckey ’83; Max Garsten, great nephew of Ruth Healy ’43, Bill Healy ’44 and Kent Healy ’46.

Absent from photo: Ida Brooks, cousin of Preston Brooks ’79, Catherine Brooks Laing ’82 and Nathaniel Brooks ’87; and Kaylee Geballe, daughter of Joshua Geballe ’90.

32 | Foote Prints

Legacies at Foote

CHILDREN OF ALUMNI have been attending Foote School since at least the 1950s, and more than a few families span three generations. This year, the school’s 100th, 44 students have parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or other relatives who attended Foote. Many of these students bear a strong resemblance to their parents, as evidenced by these old yearbook photos.

Spring 2016 | 33

34 | Foote Prints

Where Are They Now?

The Class of 2012 in third grade with teachers Sarah Nutting and Debbie Rhoads (at left) and Lisa Totman and Amanda Diffley (at right)

Spring 2016 | 35

Anna Ayres-Brown Yale CollegeHannah Beebe Boston UniversityCaleb Bishop Hobart William Smith CollegeGabriella Bradley Bates CollegeSam Burbank New York University-Tisch School of the ArtsEvan Carlson Stanford UniversityDana Chung Williams CollegeMeera Dhodapkar University of ChicagoRaffi Donatich Barnard CollegeCaitlin Farrell Georgetown UniversityJ.P. Fitch Champlain CollegeHannah Friedman-Bell Colby CollegeLucy Friedman-Bell Carleton CollegeSamuel Glazer Pomona CollegeKyra Goldstein Brown UniversityMaya Harlan Wesleyan UniversityMax Hauser Union CollegeLauren Jackson Hamden High School ’16Juliette Kenn de Balinthazy Juilliard School for ActingMegan King Southern Methodist UniversityHarrison Lapides Choate Rosemary Hall ’16Margie Lewis Lafayette CollegeBen MacDougald Holy Cross CollegeConor Marlatt Elon UniversityOlivia Matthes Theriault Choate Rosemary Hall ’16Nicolas McCabe Kalamazoo CollegeCassidy McCarns Bates CollegeMichael McCarthy Pitzer CollegeJackson Price Skidmore CollegeMia Reid Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School ’16Peter Reilly Yurkovsky Wesleyan UniversityJohn Rosenbluth Yale CollegeTaylor Rossini UnknownAndrew Salerno UnknownMax Sbriglio University of DenverIan Shaw Wentworth Institute of TechnologyOlivia Shin Oberlin CollegeIsabella Siegel Haverford CollegeStuart Sommers University of Colorado at BoulderPeyton Swift George Washington UniversityRamsey Tomasi-Carr Olin CollegeAaron Van Leesten Emerson CollegeMolly Wafer George Washington UniversityDorothy Warner Hopkins School ’16Clara Wencker Wesleyan UniversityDale Wongwiwat University of ConnecticutHannah Xu University of RochesterAléc Zemborain University of St Andrews, ScotlandMikel Zemborain University of St Andrews, ScotlandBryan Zhou Choate Rosemary Hall ’16

Class of 2012

36 | Foote Prints

Young Alums Day

36 | Foote Prints

From left, Ella Cowan deWolf ’13, teacher Ângela Giannella, John Mayes ’12, Pablo Otero Paugh ’15, Caroline Soper ’13, Anika Zetterberg ’13 and Abby Clarke ’13

Thor Illick ’14 (left) and Bruno Moscarini ’16

From left, Sydney Osborne ’15, Lauren Tompkins ’15 and Hannah Volk ’15

Spring 2016 | 37

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, alumni from the classes of 2013 through 2015 returned to Loomis Place for Young Alums Day. Eighty alums gathered over coffee and bagels in the Twichell Room to reconnect with old classmates and for-mer teachers, while a slideshow of photos from their Foote days played in the background. In the Sturley Room, current ninth graders attended a panel discussion, organized by Assistant Head of Middle School Liam Considine, at which young alums talked about their experiences at various area high schools. Before leaving, the alums attended the annual Thanksgiving Assembly in the Hosley Gym, a throwback to an era that, for many, went by in a flash.

Spring 2016 | 37

From left, Juliet Friedman ’14, Math Co-Chair Megan Williams, Natalie Muskin ’14 and Tess Friedman ’15

38 | Foote Prints

1931We are sad to report the death of Martha Knight Clyde, who passed away on May 28, 2015.

1932We regret that in the Fall 2015 issue of Foote Prints, we incorrectly spelled the name of Catharine “Kitty” Hooker Barclay.

1936We are sad to report the death of Elizabeth Jane Reeves Goodspeed, who passed away on May 14, 2015. In an email, her son, Roger Goodspeed, wrote, “My mother told me several stories about Foote School (including about a ‘mean girl’ from whom she sometimes hid in the girls’ room at the end of the school day until she was sure her mother was outside on Prospect Street waiting to pick her up—she noted that years later she and the ‘mean girl’ became good friends). Her family lived in Pine Orchard in Branford from 1931, and my grandfather drove her to school every day on his way to work in New Haven. She plainly had fond memories of her time at Foote, which she attended from Kindergarten through eighth grade.”

1937We extend our belated condolences to Anne Hooker Boardman, whose sister, Catharine “Kitty” Hooker Barclay ’32, passed away in April 2015.

1939Class Correspondent:Anne Campbell Clementshclement@comcast.net

194175th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016

We are sad to report the death of Nancy Redway Pugsley, who passed away on February 9, 2016.

1942Class Correspondent:David Hitchcock, Jr.HitchDL@aol.com

We extend our deep sympathy to G. Harold Welch, whose wife, Betsy Welch, passed away on September 27, 2015.

1943We extend our sympathy to Albert Redway Jr., whose sister, Nancy Redway Pugsley ’41, passed away on February 9, 2016.

1945Class Correspondent:Dr. John Gardnerjhgardner@earthlink.net

Members of our class will be happy to know that the donations we made in memory of Elinor Bozyan Warburg, with those of her family, have created the Ellie Warburg Class of 1945 Visiting Artist Program at Foote School. Given Ellie’s love of music, it is appropriate that the first such artist, who visited the last week in January, be a musician. As described in the article on page 4, Rob Kapilow captivated members of each grade with his inspiring insights into music. I was privileged to attend his concert on January 26 with members of the Warburg family. It started with a scholarly but very amusing dissection of Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” and concluded with his own very original and entertaining piece, “And Furthermore They Bite,” which turned children’s stories into music for soprano, baritone and orchestra. Our class should be very pleased with the outcome and grateful to those who donated.

194670th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondent:Kent HealyKent.Healy@verizon.net

Class Notes

We’d love to hear from you!Please contact your class correspondent or Cheryl Nadzam at cnadzam@footeschool.org to share news about you and your classmates, or visit www.footeschool.org/alumni/alumninews.

“While I appreciate

everybody’s support and

encouragement, I must

withdraw from the 2016

presidential race to spend

more time with my nine

grandchildren.”

—Alden Shattuck ’62

Spring 2016 | 39

1947Class Correspondent:Gladys Bozyan LavineGBLavine@gmail.com

We extend our condolences to Gladys Bozyan Lavine, whose brother, Frank Arakel Bozyan ’51, passed away on July 28, 2015. Gladys deeply appreciated being included with George Warburg, his son Dan, and John Gardner ’45 at Foote’s inaugural con-cert of the Ellie Warburg Class of 1945 Visit-ing Artist Program. “After a splendid dinner, we relished a musical adventure with Rob Kapilow and a roomful of rapt participants from 5 to 85 years old.” Last fall, Susan Hilles Bush and Gladys spent a weekend visiting Elizabeth DeVane Edminster and her husband, David, in Washington for non-stop conversation and laughing. It was a treat for all. In a phone call from Florida, Gladys caught up with Jane Karlsruher Shedlin, who is well and active, continuing her adven-turous trips. A holiday card from Lavinia Schrade Bruneau also sounded lively, as she is continuing to teach dance and attend

performances. “As octogenarians go, we seem to be doing all right.”

1948The Class of 1948 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

1949The Class of 1949 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

We extend our condolences to Margaret Bozyan Jefferys, whose brother, Frank Arakel Bozyan ’51, passed away on July 28, 2015.

1950Class Correspondent:Mary Pigott Johnsenjlmpjohnsen@west-point.org

195165th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondent:Emily Mendillo Woodbirdofmilford@gmail.com

Emily Mendillo Wood had lunch with Patsy Spykman Winer, who is still painting and had a piece hung at the Milford Fine Arts Center. Emily talks to Judy Buck Moore, who is still a birder but finds time to volunteer for Home Haven, part of Village to Village, which provides help for aging people who want to stay in their homes. Emily sadly notes the passing of Frank Arakel Bozyan on July 28, 2015. He was an avid astronomer and sailor. He taught astronomy at the University of Texas for more than 22 years (the planet Jupiter was his main interest). He then moved to Rhode Island where he continued teaching. He raced yachts competitively for many years and was a senior race officer. Cathya Wing Stephenson and her husband, Charles, have moved into an apartment in an attractive retirement home overlooking Rock Creek Park. The Washington International School will celebrate 50 years on the same weekend when Foote celebrates 100!

1952Class Correspondent:Harald Hilleharald.hille@gmail.com

Nancy Osterweis Alderman is working on environmental and health issues. Synthetic turf is a big problem and she happily writes, “Foote School does not have one—they have wonderful grass fields.” The Class of 1953 is trying to organize a class dinner during Centennial Weekend and hopes to include the classes of 1952 and 1954.

1953Class Correspondent:Robert Wingwing@astronomy.ohio-state.edu

Mary Lou Venter Briggs reports that the skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho is much better than last year. She and Bob Wing are planning to attend the Centennial Weekend in May and urge other classmates to join them. We extend condolences to Frank “Butch” Butterworth, whose wife, Leigh, passed away in December 2014. The Class of 1953 is trying to organize a class dinner during Centennial Weekend and hopes to include the classes of 1952 and 1954.

1954The Class of 1954 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

We are sad to report the death of Peter Dwight Bluhm, who passed away on March 13, 2016. We extend our deep sympathy to his sister, Louise Bluhm Jeanne. Edward Johnson writes that he is active in the local church, fire department, historical society and rowing association. Ed is retired though he continues to work part-time as a journal-ist. Ed and his wife are traveling more in the Northeast. Herrick Jackson spent the past six months recovering from open-heart, triple-bypass surgery. The Class of 1953 is trying to organize a class dinner during Centennial Weekend and hopes to include the classes of 1952 and 1954.

Elizabeth Jane Beauford Reeves Goodspeed ’36, pictured circa 1927, died in May 2015.

40 | Foote Prints

1955Class Correspondents:Nawrie Meigs-Brownnawrie@comcast.net

Lee DunhamLDunham@sandw.com

195660th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondent:Will Amatrudawilltam88@hotmail.com

1957Class Correspondent:Kevin Geentykevin@geentygroup.com

Kevin Geenty and his wife, Mikki, plan to attend some of the Centennial Weekend events including the gala. Kevin and Mikki may host a Friday night dinner party if there is enough interest. Please email Kevin. Richard Petrelli and his wife, Marion, will split their weekend, attending some of Foote’s events and Westminster’s events. Martha Porter Haeseler would be interested in attending a Class of 1957 get-together during Centennial Weekend. Denny Sutro is excited to reunite with the class during Foote’s centennial celebration. Tristram Tim Gaillard retired from a real estate and marketing career last year and now builds custom furniture out of antique wood and objets d’art. Samples of “No 2 Alike” furniture can be seen at http://gaillard5.smugmug.com/Furniture/. Tim and Grace’s sons, Jason the artist and Jared the engineer, have given them three wonderful grandchildren. They also manage six rental properties they now own, and they are trying to slow down. Tim looks forward to Centennial Weekend. Peter Setlow took a wonderful cruise in Alaska aboard a small boat of 12 passengers and four crew. The cruised in Prince William Sound with their son and his family, including their 11- and 15-year-old grandchildren. For the past year, Tessa Stanwood Davis battled through surgery and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. She and her husband, Alan, celebrated with a trip to San Miguel de Allende, where they reconnected with Carol Miller and Larry Rand in their beautiful home. Tessa finds it very joyful to see Joan

Johnson Stone and Melissa Bradley when Jo visits her son and family in Denver. While Tessa has been retired from paid work for several years, Alan has no intention of retiring any time soon from University of Colorado Denver. One daughter, Allison, is in Mountain View, CA, and the other, Laura, is in Baltimore, MD. Currently they have one 5-year-old grandchild, Gabriel, but are hoping for another since daughter Laura is getting married in August. Tessa is sorry to miss Centennial Weekend and sends greetings to all. Bruce Reynolds is happily retired in Potomac, MD, with his wife and family. They spend long summers in Wisconsin at a lake home near Milwaukee. Bruce will miss Centennial Weekend but would love to see Foote classmates at either location.

1958Class Correspondent:Eric Bergerericberger@aol.com

Louise Vietor Oliver has lived in Washington, D.C. for 35 years, working for a variety of nonprofit organizations as well as in several government positions, including five years as the U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO. Louise has five children and 10 grandchildren.

1959The Class of 1959 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

We extend our condolences to Albert “Tony” Barclay, whose mother, Catharine “Kitty” Hooker Barclay ’32, passed away in April 2015. We extend our deep sympathy to Margaret Bluhm Carey, whose brother, Peter Bluhm ’54, passed away on March 13, 2016.

1960Class Correspondent:Happy Clement Spongberghappyspongberg@earthlink.net

We extend our condolences to Margie Howe Emmons, whose father, Arthur Howe Jr., passed away in December 2014. Jerry Alford went to Fessenden and Boston University, Virginia (Woodbury Forest), and Athens, GA (University of Georgia.) He lived in Jackson-

ville, FL, New York City and then back to Jacksonville. He sends the Class of 1960 all the best. Happy Clement Spongberg and her husband, Steve, plan to visit Williamsburg and Charlottesville in April and Quebec City in July. Pat Fiorito Oakes, Bill Henning, Richard Hooker and Melody Lawrence plan to attend Centennial Weekend. Elizabeth Reigeluth Parker hopes to make it as well.

196155th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondent:Muffie Clement Greenm_c_green@sbcglobal.net

We extend our condolences to Emily Barclay, whose mother, Catharine “Kitty” Hooker Barclay ’32, passed away in April 2015.

1962Class Correspondent:Donald O. Rossdross@winvcounsel.com

We extend our condolences to Sam Howe, whose father, Arthur Howe Jr., passed away in December 2014. We are sad to report the death of Laura Kautz Baker, on January 21, 2016. Alden Shattuck writes, “While I appreciate everybody’s support and encour-agement, I must withdraw from the 2016 presidential race to spend more time with my nine grandchildren.”

1963Class Correspondent:Susan Strattonsusan@strattonpartners.com

1964Class Correspondent:Verdi DiSesavdisesa@cchosp.com

We extend our condolences to Catharine Barclay Fender, whose mother, Catharine “Kitty” Hooker Barclay ’32, passed away in April 2015, and to Chase Twichell, whose mother, Ann Chase Twichell Hendrie, passed away on October 24, 2015. Pauline Lord writes that White Gate Farm continues to occupy most of her attention, as they expand from raising organic produce and poultry to cooking classes, farm-to-table dinners and the Inn, which will open this summer

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for overnight guests, yoga retreats, small weddings and whatnot. “Please take note of our many rental and event opportunities!” See www.whitegatefarm.net. Otherwise, Pauline is upgrading the small family “compound” in Boca Grande, FL— a delightful winter occupation. Pauline will present a mini-course about organic farming during Centennial Weekend. Nicholas Rostow writes that after more than five years directing the research institute and teaching at the National Defense University, he is now the Charles Evan Hughes Visiting Chair of Government and Jurisprudence at Colgate University. Sarah “Sally” Nettleton is humbled and honored to be selected as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. “And to think it all started at Foote School.” We extend our condolences to Mary Lee Maconi Lam, whose father, Richard Maconi, passed away in May 2015.

1965Class Correspondent:Eric TriffinEric_Triffin@aya.yale.edu

We extend our sympathy to Lucy Pugsley, whose mother, Nancy Redway Pugsley ’41, passed away on February 9, 2016.

196650th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondent:John N. Deming Jr.jndjr@yahoo.com

We extend our condolences to Eliza Twichell, whose mother, Ann Chase Twichell Hendrie, passed away on October 24, 2015. We extend our deep sympathy to Christo-pher Bluhm, whose brother, Peter Bluhm ‘54, passed away on March 13, 2016. Ginny Sutro Morse is doing well and working in the Boston area. Grace Hammond Boss manages Boundless Grace, LLC, a Christian bookstore in New London, NH. Grace takes classes through Colby Sawyer’s Adventures in Learning program and leads a monthly Rafiki prayer group in Bristol, NH. She loves the stars and the view from Shalom, her new hilltop home in Hill, NH.

1967The Class of 1967 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

We extend our condolences to Thomas “Tuck” Barclay, whose mother, Catharine “Kitty” Hooker Barclay ’32, passed away in April 2015, and to Edwin Pugsley III, whose mother, Nancy Redway Pugsley ’41, passed away on February 9, 2016. We extend our sympathy to Pam Maconi Hershorin, whose father, Richard Maconi, passed away in May 2015. Barbara Hammond Schoenly and her husband feel blessed to live in Salisbury, where they enjoy lots of good hiking and skiing. Their two sons live and work in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia; one works for a consulting firm while pursuing his MBA part-time at Georgetown, and the other works for Vanguard. “We are grateful for our wonderful family and marriage of 30 years and our loving God who has seen us through the ups and downs of life.” Barbara looks forward to seeing the Class of 1967 at the 50th reunion in 2017.

1968Class Correspondent:Liz Prelingerprelinge@georgetown.edu

We extend our sympathy to Arthur Howe III, whose father, Arthur Howe Jr., passed away in December 2014.

1969Class Correspondent:Meg McDowell Smithmegsmithvt@gmavt.net

1970 The Class of 1970 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

We are sad to report that Joe Bishop passed away unexpectedly on January 24, 2016. We extend our sympathy to Thomas Howe, whose father, Arthur Howe Jr., passed away in December 2014 and to David Pugsley, whose mother, Nancy Redway Pugsley ’41, passed away on February 9, 2016. Rev. Kate Bigwood Atkinson was delighted to be awarded a Clergy Refresher Grant from the Lily Foun-dation. Kate will be taking her first sabbatical in 20 years of ordained ministry, including a photo safari in South Africa. Robert O’Connor’s new book, Gumptionade: The Booster For Your Self-Improvement Plan is selling well. Check it out at www.gumptionade.com.

197145th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016

The Class of 1971 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

1972Class Correspondents:Amy Estabrook heyamo@snet.net

Cathy Hosley Vouwiechv79@hotmail.com

Edward “Ted” Venter has recently taken on a business opportunity in Las Vegas. Although he and his wife, Zaida, enjoy the outdoor activities in Vegas (yes, there are actually parts of the city other than the strip), they go back to California regularly to spend time with their adult children. Ted and Zaida spend their spare time trying to figure out what retirement will look like. “Hard to believe we are approaching that chapter!”

Ann Chase Twichell Hendrie, a former Foote Board member, volunteer and mother of Chase ’64, Eliza ’66 and Cary Twichell ’76 , died on Oct. 24, 2015.

42 | Foote Prints

1973Class Correspondents:Peter Hicks phicks@websterbank.com

John Perssejohnpersse@bhhsne.com

Diana Smith will join Centennial Weekend presenting a mini-course on educating in a charter school environment. We extend our sympathy to Toby Welch, whose mother, Betsy Welch, passed away on September 27, 2015.

1974The Class of 1974 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

We extend our sympathy to Barclay Welch, whose mother, Betsy Welch, passed away on September 27, 2015, and to Jill Maconi, whose father, Richard Maconi, passed away in May 2015. Congratulations to Polly Byers, who was named the deputy director, Office of Policy, USAID. She recently returned from Zimbabwe. Penny Wien Boling has two daughters—one in high school and one in college. Penny enjoys gardening, knitting and weaving.

1975Class Correspondent:Jessica Drurysjsaz@optonline.net

The difficulty in constructing these short notes on the doings of the Class of 1975 is that my thumbs have been stuck in my armpits, looking all cocky because my classmates continue to astound me with their brilliant accomplishments. We extend our deep sympathy to Bruce Conklin, whose father, Harold Conklin, passed away on February 18, 2016. Susie Campbell Grimes became a grandmother to a little fella named Luke Scott Montaldo—huzzah to the parents, Abbe Grimes Montaldo ’02 and Scott. David Coffin was lured back to New Haven to do an informal Master’s Tea/Concert at Davenport College. Bo Sandine and Cessy Bickel made it to the show with a review by Bo: “His enthusiastic storytelling, exhaustive Atlantic maritime history and

call-and-response song leadership were special and unique. He was humble and infectious as he detailed how he turned his personal journey into a career that touches thousands annually.” Did I mention that Joanie Bigwood threw off her maiden name this summer before an audience that brought together a rambunctious collection of Footies on a small island off the coast of Portland, Maine? Coming from a crusty, cynical, life-hardened class secretary, even I was moved by the commitment and love of the newlyweds and their co-joined families. As I write, I am saddened that I cannot convey the splendid mix of honest and sweet affection with Joanie’s clever, hilarious take on the world around all of us. Which is why I was not surprised when Duby McDowell, attending the event in New York City, reported that the reading of Joanie’s play was “freaking brilliant.” The playwright describes the gathering as “a feisty little reading of my touching, ticklish yet tragic play about alienation in a crowded space.” Pitted against another play being read in the same venue, fingers are crossed that the play will find full expression with a complete staging of the work. And under the category of serendipity, I stumbled across another familiar name while reading about CRISPR, a genetic editing technique developed at University of California, Berkeley. The article was riveting, the topic complex and the implications far-reaching. But that is not what made it so exciting to me. Nope. What was the most incredible aspect of this piece? That our own Bruce Conklin was quoted sure as day, in black and white, right there on the printed page. Amazing! Lastly, it would be irresponsible of me not to cajole each and every one of you to make the trek to New Haven for Foote’s Centennial Weekend, May 13–15. If it is any kind of a lure, you can return to the campus in great confidence knowing the regenerative powers of our class and its ridiculous, warm intelligence and joie de vivre will take 40 years off your life. Voilà, the paunch is gone!

197640th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondent: John Holderjohnholder@comporium.net

We extend our deep sympathy to Mark Conklin, whose father, Harold Conklin,

passed away on February 18, 2016, and to Cary Twichell, whose mother, Ann Chase Twichell Hendrie, passed away on October 24, 2015.

1977Class Correspondent:Elizabeth Daley Draghigdraghi@sbcglobal.net

1978Class Correspondents:Nell DeVaneEleanor.devane@espn.com

Stephen Fontanastevef1701@aol.com

We extend our sympathy to Clare Johnson, whose mother, Phyllis LaFarge Johnson, passed away on September 19, 2015.

1979Class Correspondent:Bonnie WelchBonniewelch@taftschool.org

We extend our sympathy to Bonnie Welch, whose mother, Betsy Welch, passed away on September 27, 2015.

1980Class Correspondent:Liz Geller Brennangelbren@aol.com

198135th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondents:Jennifer LaVinjen2766@gmail.com

Nicolas Crowleynyjcrowley@hotmail.com

We extend our condolences to Thomas Johnson, whose mother, Phyllis LaFarge Johnson, passed away on September 19, 2015, and to Christopher Pugsley, whose mother, Nancy Redway Pugsley ’41, passed away on February 9, 2016.

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1982Class Correspondent:Bethany Schowalter Applebybappleby@wiggin.com

Ben Allison will be performing at Centennial Weekend. He will also perform two shows at Firehouse 12 in New Haven on Friday, May 13. See page 29 for details. Paul Giamatti directed and narrated the episode “More Than Human” on the new National Geographic Channel series Breakthrough, which tells the stories of how scientists are exploring new realms of research. During Centennial Weekend, Clinton White will share an interactive presentation on his experiences both domestically and internationally with USAID.

1983Class Correspondent:Brinley Ford EhlersBrinleysf@aol.com We extend our condolences to Mark McFadden, whose father, F. Patrick McFadden Jr., passed away on September 6, 2015.

1984Class Correspondent:Ann Pschirrer Brandt

Bun Lai and his siblings, Ted ’87 and Mie ’91, will be presenting a mini-course on sustainable foods and sushi-rolling during Centennial Weekend.

1985Class Correspondent:Carter LaPrade Serxnerlapserx@gmail.com

Alexandra Fayen is a school social worker in the Madison, WI schools and works with high school students in alternative programs. She loves it and feels lucky for all she learned at Foote. Xanda’s husband, David, also works for Madison schools as a seventh-grade science teacher. Her son, Roland (known as Bailey in his young-er years), lives in town with his wife and children: James, 3 1/2; and Thomas, 2. “To them, I am Nana.” Her stepson, Torsten, is making his living as a stage actor and stops frequently in Madison to rest before moving

on to his next gig. “Other than our terrible governor, who continues to try to wipe out public education, life is good.” Peter Montano moved to Florida in June, started a new job and loves Florida. Merrill Barden Collins is excited about Foote’s Centennial. Both of her sons enjoy sports; Denali, 11, played rec basketball this winter and Birch, 8, played travel soccer. Merrill is also excited about her new passion, Bikram yoga. Anne Sielaff Beal is celebrating her 13th year as a business owner. She continues to teach Middle Eastern dance and is enjoying a quiet winter in Maine. She encourages classmates to visit when they are in Maine. Oye Carr is living in Luxembourg with his wife and two children: Ulysses, 13, and Pallas, 10. Having a son in middle school reminds him of Foote days. Oye is looking forward to catching up with Erich Bentz in Vienna. Spencer Luckey reports that life is good in the Elm City! Kate Bingham Moorehead is the Dean of the Cathedral in Jacksonville, FL. She is taking a sabbatical this summer to work on a book about Mary Magdalene. She is married to JD, a therapist, and has three sons: 17, 15 and 11. Jody Ippolito Collins is living in the Irish countryside with her husband and two dogs. She gets to Boston regularly to visit with family (Beth Collins ’87) and friends. She is looking forward to her next trip to Venice. Carter LaPrade Serxner is in her 24th year teaching middle school history. She lives in Princeton, NJ, with husband David and their four children: 16, 14, 11 and 9. “Life is very busy but there is never a dull mo-ment.” Raf Allison is teaching in the Writing Program at Princeton again. His first book came out last year, titled Bodies on the Line: Performance and the Sixties Poetry Reading. It explores the social and literary context of poetry readings during an era of social pro-test. He discusses Gwendolyn Brooks, John Ashbery, Robert Frost, Charles Olson and William Carlos Williams, among others. He and Tracy are living in Princeton with their three children: a daughter and twin sons.

1986 30th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondent:Jody Esselstynjesselstyn@gmail.com

We extend our condolences to Kate Schleifer Vavpetic, whose sibling, Margaret “Meg” (now Justin) Schleifer ’90, passed away on

December 5, 2015. Charissa Babe Pacella moved to Pittsburgh, PA 22 years ago and never left. She met her husband, John, in medical school. She practices emergency medicine and serves as chief of emergency services at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. Charissa loves teaching and mentoring medical students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. They have four great kids (ages 6–14) and love to ski and take family trips. “I wish I could be there for the reunion in May, and I wish everyone well!” Rachel Totman Davis and Jenny Ford Barrett are working together for a beauty products company, Beautycounter, that “makes safe, non-toxic skincare and works to educate the public on safety in personal care products.” Rachel is based in Los Angeles and loves life in sunny California—especially during the winter months. She still goes east to Nova Scotia with her family. Her son, Tot, is 13 and daughter Callie is 10. Jenny is based outside of Boston. They are always looking to expand their team and would love to add some Foote classmates. It is an exciting business and team members can live anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. Jenny writes, “I have several jobs these days…of course the most important being mother of three!” Along with a good friend, she started a small designed-goods company called jenshe designs (www.jenshe.com) which creates prints, cards, stickers, coasters and is planning to roll out t-shirts, zip pouches and calendars this spring. “Our designs merge color and words while trying to capture the essence of a place.” She continues to do small graphic design projects on the side, which keeps her design brain up to date and “proves my degree to be useful!” They ski often as a family at Bromley and also with her parents and sister, Brinley Ford Ehlers ’83, and her family. Jenny hopes to run into Frank Perrine one day in Peru! Jody Esselstyn enjoys teaching medical and nursing students at the University of Virginia about end-of-life issues, volunteering as a nurse at the Charlottesville Free Clinic and keeping up with her three kids (now in eighth, sixth and first grades). With her family, Jody will return to a girls’ camp on Lake Michigan, where she’ll join the camp health team for the third summer in a row. “Make plans to join our class for the 30th reunion and Foote’s Centennial Weekend in May!” Elisha Cooper will be presenting a mini-course on illustrating during Centennial Weekend.

44 | Foote Prints

Catherine Balsam-Schwaber joined Mattel, Inc. in the fall of 2015 as chief content officer, where she leads Mattel’s efforts to implement digital and media strategies that connect consumers in meaningful and innovative ways.

1987Class Correspondent:Jonathan Levinjdlevin@stanford.edu

Jonathan Levin and wife Amy spent a wonderful 2014–15 academic year living in Oxford, England. They were visited in Oxford by Tim Daniels, Claire and Wyatt, who were touring Europe last summer. Back in Palo Alto this fall, they spent many weekends watching kids’ soccer games with Cathy Finkelstein Sutherland and her husband, Scott. Ted Lai and his siblings, Bun ’84 and Mie ’91, will present a mini-course on sustainable foods and sushi-rolling during Centennial Weekend.

1988The Class of 1988 needs a class correspon-dent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni Programs Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

Jon Lieber managed to catch up with Ethan Barlow and the Barlow clan for the second year in a row somewhere between Vinalhaven and North Haven, Maine in August. It’s the same beach they met on a week before Kindergarten more than 35 years ago.

1989Class Correspondent:Toya Hill Clarktrose7@hotmail.com

We extend our sympathy to Luke McFadden and Peter Fitton, whose father and step-father, respectively, F. Patrick McFadden Jr., passed away on September 6, 2015. Amy Stephens Sudmyer and Sarah Netter Boone had a great time ice skating at Ralph Walker Rink in New Haven (where they skated together as students 30-plus years ago) during Foote’s first Family Skating Social on January 21, 2016. Amy is currently Foote’s PTC co-president and her son, Charlie, is in second grade. Sarah has four children at Foote: Wolf, Grade 6; Kurt, Grade 4; Penelope, Grade 1; and Felix, Kindergarten.

1990Class Correspondent:Amy Crawfordamycohncrawford@mac.com

We are sad to report the death of Margaret “Meg” (now Justin) “Jay” Schleifer, who passed away on December 5, 2015. Christopher Selden is enjoying life working and residing in Norwich, CT. He recently got a puppy, taking up most of his free time. Josie Schiavone is still living in Washington, D.C. with her son, Ripley, 3. “We get up to Connecticut and Foote often to see my sister, Allyx ’85, and her kids, Penn Cancro ’17 and Josie Cancro ’19, who attend Foote.”

199125th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondent:Bo Bradstreetebradstr@gmail.com

We extend our condolences to Ashley Fitton, whose stepfather, F. Patrick McFadden Jr., passed away on September 6, 2015. Mie Lai and her siblings, Bun ’84 and Ted ’87, will present a mini-course on sustainable foods and sushi-rolling during Centennial Weekend. We extend our deep

Current Foote parents Amy Stephens Sudmyer ’89 (left) and Sarah Netter Boone ’89 at Foote’s Family Ice Skating Social on January 21, 2016 at the Ralph Walker Rink in New Haven

Ethan Barlow ’88 (left) and Jon Lieber ’88 on the same beach in Maine where they met before Kindergarten 35 years ago

Spring 2016 | 45

sympathy to Chandra Benevento, whose mother, Joan Benevento, passed away on December 27, 2015.

1992Class Correspondent:Katie Madden Kavanaghkatieblee@hotmail.com

1993Class Correspondent:Jenny Keuljennykeul@gmail.com

Tera Zarra has been working on her aerial/acrobat acts and on trying to get more shows and companies to incorporate them.

1994Class Correspondent:Arna Berke-Schlessel Zohlmanarna.zohlman@gmail.com

1995Class Correspondent:Jack Hillseaburyhill@aol.com

Grayson Murphy, wife Kate Brubacher and big sister Eleanor, 2, welcomed Grayson “Gray” Murphy V last May. We extend our

deep sympathy to Brandon Benevento, whose mother, Joan Benevento, passed away on December 27, 2015.

199620th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondents:Brett NowakNowak.Brett@gmail.com

Katy Zandy Atlaskaty91@gmail.com

1997Class Correspondent:Eliza Saywardelizasayward@yahoo.com

Alison Gusberg married James Healy on September 12, 2015 at the Gusberg family home, Weather Watch Farm in Litchfield, CT. In attendance were many Footies, including sister of the groom, Colleena Healy ’18; sister of the bride and maid of honor, Jessica Gusberg ’98; and brothers William “Spencer” Gusberg ’00, James “Ben” Gusberg ’05 and stepsister Scout Sanders ’10. They were married by Alison’s brother, Spencer, who became a justice of the peace just for the occasion. Many Foote families were in attendance.

1998Class Correspondents:Andrew Lebovaklebov@gmail.com

Elisabeth Saccosaccopotatoes@gmail.com

Liz Antle-O’Donnell and husband Ryan welcomed their first son, Oliver Matthew Lee O’Donnell, on October 17, 2015.

Bride Ali Gusberg ’97 with groom James Healy at their wedding. Several Footies were in attendance, including Colleena Healy ’18, Jessica Gusberg ’98, William “Spencer” Gusberg ’00, James “Ben” Gusberg ’05 and Scout Sanders ’10.

Oliver Matthew Lee O’Donnell was born to Liz Antle-O’Donnell ’98 and husband Ryan O’Donnell on October 17, 2015.

46 | Foote Prints

Liz’s organization, Site Projects, has been commissioning public art for New Haven since 2004. Last year, Site Projects invested in an interactive mobile website, www.artsitesnewhaven.com, that offers opportunities for self-guided tours of New Haven’s impressive outdoor public art collection, from their own commissions to Yale’s collection and city and state works.

1999Class Correspondent:Jeremy Zuidemajmzuidema@gmail.com

Annie Sklaver Orenstein has been working at toy manufacturer Mattel, Inc. since 2013. In her current position, she identifies trends before they mature and advises on how they

can be integrated into both new and existing product lines. Catherine Balsam-Schwaber ‘85 joined her in 2015 as Mattel’s chief content officer.

2000Class Correspondents:Alex Kleineralex.m.kleiner@gmail.com

Shannon Sweeneysmsweeney07@gmail.com

Congratulations to Ian Lebov, who married Kelly Mercer-Lebov on September 5,2015. Ian works at Fox Powersports as an appli-cation engineer for aftermarket snowmo-bile shocks. Jesse Gabbard appears in the Disney movie The Finest Hours as crewman

Domingo Garcia. The movie, starring Chris Pine and Casey Affleck, opened in Janu-ary, and is the true story of a heroic Coast Guard rescue. Jesse enjoyed a red-carpet opening. Sarah Pickard is a physician. She married Matt Mandel last spring at her parents’ home in Gloucester, MA, and they welcomed a son, Max Mandel. On August 8, 2015, Daniel Leventhal married Lindsey Grieve just outside Olympic National Park in Washington State. Classmate Shannon Sweeney and brother Adam Leventhal ’94 were in attendance and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and a variety of activities,

Jesse Gabbard ’00 (fourth from left) on set for the first day of rehearsal with the Pendleton Crew for the Disney movie The Finest Hours.

Jesse Gabbard ’00 tweeted: @LokeeDog at the Head of the #RedCarpet at #TheFinestHours #premiere in #losangeles.

Peter Lorimer ’01 and Elizabeth Reinhard were married in Utah on December 12, 2015.

Peter Lin ’63 and Phoebe Woerner ’00 realized their Foote connection while working together at SEEDS Community Resolution Center in Berkeley, CA.

Spring 2016 | 47

including hiking, group canoeing, dancing and s’mores! Daniel and Lindsey live in Seattle. Brianna Berkowitz and family re-cently relocated to Austin, TX. Her husband accepted a job at a tech startup and they are enjoying exploring a new city with their toddler. Phoebe Woerner writes, “I work as a mediator and case supervisor for a conflict- resolution center in Berkeley, CA, called SEEDS Community Resolution Center. We depend on community volunteers to donate their time as case workers in our office, and last year a volunteer named Peter Lin joined my team of volunteers. We’d been working together for several months before realizing that we both grew up in the New Haven area. We were both pretty surprised. Peter then asked me where I went to elementary school, and when I said Foote School, he was really surprised! It turns out we are both appreciative Foote alumni; class of ’63 and ’00, respectively. It does not surprise either of us that we have both ended up doing peace work given where our educational journeys began.”

200115th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondents:Adam Jacobs14 Tanglewood LaneWoodbridge, CT 06525203-393-1760

Cassie Pagnamcassie.pagnam@gmail.com

Annie Rosen is spending a year in Chicago performing with the Ryan Program, part of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Congratulations to Peter Lorimer on his marriage to Eliza-beth Reinhard on December 12, 2015 at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Utah. The cou-ple met at Duke. Peter is a senior manager of financial planning and analysis at OnDeck Capital, which provides financing to small businesses in New York. He received an MBA from Harvard. Chevaunne Breland

won the 2015 TAPS Award in New Haven honoring teachers who go the extra mile for students. In addition, she was selected as one of three finalists for Teacher of the Year in the New Haven Public Schools.

2002Class Correspondent:Hope Fleming 47 Old Quarry RoadGuilford, CT 06437 203-453-9400

Dan Leventhal ’00 (right) married Lindsey Grieve on August 8, 2015 in Olympic National Park. Classmate Shannon Sweeney ’00 (left) and Dan’s brother, Adam ’94, were both in attendance.

The wedding of Ian Lebov ’00 on September 5, 2015. From left, Nancy Lebov, Kelly Mercer-Lebov (bride), Ian Lebov ’00 (groom), Phil Lebov and Andrew Lebov ’98

48 | Foote Prints

2003Class Correspondents:Courtney Holmes msholmes@att.blackberry.net

Adam Shapiroadamshapiro1488@gmail.comWe extend our sympathy to Rachel Levenson, whose mother, Lesley Siegel, passed away in September 2014.

2004Class Correspondents:Dillon Longknow33@gmail.com

Dana SchwartzDanaschwartz5@gmail.com

We extend our sympathy to Jacob Baldwin, whose mother, Barbara Geller, passed away on August 30, 2015. Leah Pepe, Samantha Mashaw and Scout Sanders got together in San Francisco in March.

2005Class Correspondents:Gabriella Rhodeengabriella.rhodeen@gmail.com

We extend our sympathy to Jeremy Levenson, whose mother, Lesley Siegel, passed away in September 2014.

200610th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondents:Audrey Logan logan.audrey@gmail.com

Adam Gabbardadamdgabbard@yahoo.com

We extend our sympathy to Sadra Baldwin, whose mother, Barbara Geller, passed away on August 30, 2015. Yuri Sakurabayashi graduated and is now a physician at Tokyo Women’s Medical University. Last March, she married Dr. Juu Ogasawara. Audrey

Logan was an associate producer on the documentary The Hunting Ground, which has helped break the story of sexual vio-lence on U.S. college campuses. It received a Best Original Song nomination for the 2016 Oscars for “Til It Happens To You” by Lady Gaga and Diane Warren. The film has been spreading awareness across the country and has helped inspire new legisla-tion in New York and California, as well as the reintroduction of the federal Campus Accountability & Safety Act. Audrey resides in Brooklyn and recently rescued a pitbull.

2007Class Correspondents:Kenny Kreglingkkregling@snet.net

Symphony SpellSymphony.spell@gmail.com

2008Class Correspondents:Michael MilazzoMichael.milazzo12@gmail.com

Kate Reilly YurkovskyKate.yurkovsky@gmail.com

Nicholas Lima graduated from MIT and is now working at his dream job building rockets at SpaceX in Los Angeles. Shay

Foote alums from the Class of 2011 at Choate Rosemary Hall graduation last spring. From left, Jack Bohen, Aidan Cobb, Max Groen and Rashad Saleh.

Leah Pepe, Samantha Mashaw and Scout Sanders, Class of 2004, got together in San Francisco in March.

Spring 2016 | 49

Nisbeth is excited to be the new enrollment coordinator at Jaeger & Flynn Associates in Clifton Park, NY. It is an insurance brokerage and HR benefits consulting firm.

2009Class Correspondents:Chris BlackwoodChristopher.blackwood@tufts.edu

Eva Kermanedk2123@barnard.edu

2010Class Correspondents:Brandi Fullwoodbrandi.n.fullwood@gmail.com

Clay Pepecppepe@rollins.edu

Jonathan Nazario reports that he is studying music education at Westminster Choir College. He would love to get in touch with all of his classmates. Briggs Harlan deferred from the nursing program at the University of Maine and is working at BAR, New Haven (sometimes with his sister, Maya ’12). On days off he is skiing in Vermont, or working part-time as an EMT.

20115th Reunion, May 13, 14, 15, 2016Class Correspondents:Nate Bartonnatebarton95@gmail.com

Britney Dumasbdumas13@gmail.com

2012Class Correspondents:Harrison Lapidesyalehockey20@comcast.net

Cassidy McCarnscmccarns@branfordschools.org

Clara Wencker is a freshman at Wesleyan in Middletown, CT, where Maya Harlan is a classmate. Maya plays varsity soccer and is studying economics and government. Cassidy McCarns is playing soccer at Bates College. Margie Lewis attends Lafayette College, where she sings in an acapella group and manages its public relations, and also writes for the newspaper. She still keeps in touch with Foote friends. Stuart Sommers is studying at University of Colorado, Boulder. Mia Reid is at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, working toward becoming a creative-writing major. Mia ran into classmate Olivia Staples at the University of Cambridge and they spend a lot of time together. Over winter break, Mia met up with Hannah Beebe and Kyra Goldstein. Peyton Swift and Mia attended Hannah’s graduation from Choate.

2013Class Correspondents:Lawson BuhlLbuhl17@choate.edu

Anika Zetterbergwxyzberg@comcast.netazetterberg16@choate.edu

Caitlin Chiocchio was admitted early decision to Rhode Island School of Design. Yael Braverman is looking forward to attending Brown University next fall.

2014Class Correspondents:Robinson Armourrobinsonarmour@gmail.com

Sophia Matthes Theriaultsophiamtheriault@gmail.com

Amelia O’Keefe is currently at Choate and was chosen to go on a school-sponsored trip to Saudi Arabia last spring.

2015Class Correspondents:Anli RaymondAgcsoccer15@gmail.com

Will WildridgeWilliam@wildridge.org

Noah Hermes de Boor is at Choate Rose-mary Hall. Jack McCallum is at Williams School now, and life since Foote has been generally good. Erin King will be taking IB courses at Cheshire Academy next year. Tess Friedman is in the photography club at Choate. She enjoys crew in both the fall and spring and plans to board next year.

Class of 2013 alums, from left, Josie Lee, Healy Knight and Anna Diffley reunited at Choate-Deerfield Day

From left, Class of 2012 classmates Hannah Beebe, Mia Reid and Olivia Staples in Boston

Hannah Beebe ’12 graduated from Choate in the spring of 2015. Pictured with her are classmates Peyton Swift (left) and Mia Reid.

50 | Foote Prints

Faculty NewsDirector of Admissions Rachelle Byron and husband Derek welcomed a daughter, Saga Irene Byron, on December 5, 2015. Quinn ’25 and Jasper are proud big brothers.

Fifth grade teacher Jake Burt’s debut novel, We Are (So Not) the Trevors, is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2017 by Feiwel and Friends (MacMillan).

Administrative Assistant and Receptionist Tristen Giovanelli and husband Bruce welcomed a daughter, Marsay Rose Giovanelli, on October 25, 2015.

Art teacher Jennifer Youngblood and husband Mark welcomed a son, Sebastian, on February 18, 2015. Sebastian celebrated his first birthday with smash cake.

We extend our deepest condolences to Head of Maintenance Dave McGaffin, whose wife, Mary Jane Grelle-McGaffin, passed away on March 22.

Former director of admissions Laura Altshul has a new book of poetry, Searching for the Northern Lights, published by Antrium House. In the collection, Laura explores the emotional fabric of her life

from her Brooklyn roots to the present day. Author Barry L. Zaret wrote of the poems, “As I read this volume, I felt my own emotions resonating with those of the poet. Isn’t that what all of us who write poetry hope our readers will experience?”

Martha Knight Clyde ’31May 28, 2015

Elizabeth Jane Reeves Goodspeed ’36May 14, 2015

Nancy Redway Pugsley ’41February 9, 2016

Frank Arakel Bozyan ’51July 28, 2015

Peter Dwight Bluhm ’54March 13, 2016

Laura Kautz Baker ’62January 21, 2016

Joseph W. Bishop III ’70January 24, 2016

Margaret “Meg” (now Justin) Schleifer ’90 December 5, 2015

Ann Chase Twichell Hendrie, Former Board MemberOctober 24, 2015

Joan Benevento, Former Board MemberDecember 27, 2015

Betsy Welch, Former FacultySeptember 27, 2015

Clyde Bennett, StaffFebruary 8, 2016

Ellie de Forest, Former FacultyMarch 28, 2016

In Memoriam

Sage Byron with big brothers Quinn ’25 (left) and Jasper

Marsay Giovanelli

Sebastian Youngblood

Spring 2016 | 51

Where in the world are these LOST ALUMS?

We live in a world of motion.

Because of moves, marriages

and other changes, Foote

has lost track of some of our

alumni over the years. We

would love to reconnect with

lost alumni and draw them

back into the Foote family.

If your name is on this list, or

you have contact information

for other alums listed below,

please email Amy Caplan in

the Alumni Programs Office

at acaplan@footeschool.org.

Thank you for helping us

welcome alumni back home

to our little spot on the map!

1931Suzanne Tobler Schriber

1936Lucie Seronde ClarkRuth Soper Tyler

1951George Finch

1961Peter GilmoreKaren Jaffe Stern

1966Philip SalisburyJody Wolf

1976Ellen BorkChristina Gemming ChaseGrace ColeJames HerseyJohn Walmsley

1981Donald FiskeSarah GladstoneTad GreenJulia HodgeLukas PendereckiJennifer Thorne

1986David GreeneErin McGill

1991Amanda RosenSarah Jean SmithJoshua Watson

1996Ronald ButlerHermonaree CowanBrady HislopLaura KellerJesse LirolaAndrew MagounAaron SalingerTracy Schloss

2001Jonathan BehlingAshley Burton-LynchEdith ChangTheodore DarstKendall DelfiniSamantha GelfandLauren GuilmetteMatthew HughesAdrienne-Myescha JoellLouis KriegerDouglas MangiGarrett PaolellaJessica Marie RandallKatherine Ziemba

2006Ramon Alvarez-SmikleNathaniel DarstSchuyler DickeyBettina FrevertJasmine TompkinChristopher Wright

2011Michael GreenbergZachery MaciejewskiDejah SmithMark TaylorBrooke Thompson

52 | Foote Prints

Around Campus

Spring 2016 | 53

‘I Would March’After learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, first and second graders talked about the things that would motivate them to march. To guide discussions about empathy and activ-ism, they read the picture book We March by Shane W. Evans. Second graders in Chester Sharp’s class wrote about a cause they would march for and decorated their classroom window with construction-paper silhouettes. “Children are experts on what is fair and unfair,” says Chester, “and they were able to connect that sense to some bigger ideas like discrimination.”

54 | Foote Prints54 | Foote Prints

THE HISTORY OF THE FOOTE SCHOOL has always placed its founding at 88 Trumbull St. in New Haven. As the story goes, that is where Helen Putnam Blake, a Smith College-educated teacher, had been homeschooling neighborhood children for several years. In 1916, she hired Martha Babcock Foote as a teacher and in 1917, asked Mrs. Foote to take over the school. The rest, as they say, is history.

But it appears that version of Foote’s origin story has one big error. Information pieced together by a past Foote parent, Carol Clay Wiske, virtually proves that Mrs. Blake lived at 58 Huntington Street, in what is now the Wiske family home.

Carol and her husband, Prescott Wiske, bought the Colonial Revival in 1988 and raised their two sons there: Clay ’02 and Alex ’04. The boys were still at Foote when, in 2002, Carol discov-ered that she might be living in a piece of Foote School history.

The clue came by mail in a copy of the Journal of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. It featured an article by Peter Dobkin Hall, also a past Foote parent, titled “East Rock: Facts, Artifacts, and Memories,” which claimed that Mrs. Blake lived at 58 Huntington St., and that’s where Foote School began. The article said that The History of The Foote School by Reverdy Whitlock, published in 1994, had incor-rectly stated Mrs. Blake lived on Trumbull Street, or even Prospect Street. But Dobkin Hall’s article did not say where it had gotten that information.

Carol read the article with interest and told a few friends about it. But she never researched it any further. With Foote’s centennial approaching, Carol says, she was inspired to learn the definitive history of her home, and thus the school.

“I needed to go on a hunt,” she says.

Carol went to the New Haven Museum and Historical Society, where librarians Betsy Goldberg and Frances Skelton guided her to further evidence that Mrs. Blake lived on Huntington Street. Carol found a 1914 article from the Saturday Chronicle, a defunct New Haven lifestyle magazine,

Looking Back

Above: 58 Huntington St. as pictured today and (inset) in the Saturday Chronicle on August 8, 1914, two years before Mrs. Foote joined Mrs. Kingsley Blake’s home-based school. Below: The entrance hall at 58 Huntington St.

Rewriting History

A past Foote parent discovers her home is a relic of Foote School’s past

Spring 2016 | 55

with a picture of 58 Huntington St. identifying it as the home of James Kingsley Blake, Mrs. Blake’s husband and a prominent New Haven attorney. She searched online and found an obituary for Mr. Blake printed in the Yale Law Journal that identified his residence as 58 Huntington St. In a Connecticut Historical Commission report, she learned the home had been built for Mr. and Mrs. Blake in 1906.

Indeed, City of New Haven telephone directories from 1912 through 1917 all list 58 Huntington St. as the residence of Helen Putnam Blake. During this same time, the occupant of 88 Trumbull St., long thought to be Mrs. Blake’s home, was a man named Edward Taylor, whose father co-owned the New Haven printing firm Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor.

When she put it all together, Carol was overcome with emotion. “I got tears in my eyes. To think that all happened here and that there were children in and out every day. Sometimes, I’ll walk into a room and say, ‘I wonder what this looked like when Mrs. Foote was here?’”

Mrs. Foote described the daily routine at Mrs. Blake’s house in a 1958 speech to Foote School: “The first task every morn-ing was to get the tables out of the nursery and set them up in neat rows, and when school was over we put them back, leaving everything in order for family living.” Carol says she isn’t sure where that nursery might have been. Likewise, she’s not sure which rooms were used for classes. She thinks perhaps the dining room, or an upstairs bedroom, but those are only guesses.

“We really feel close to Foote School,” Carol says. “My kids still tell Foote stories. They talk about their life at Foote. They just thought this was really cool.”

> Find more pictures of 58 Huntington Street at www.footeschool.org/lookingback.

Spring 2016 | 55

Left: The dining room at 58 Huntington St., where Carol Clay Wiske imagines classes might have been held.Below: Carol Clay Wiske on the porch of 58 Huntington St.

56 | Foote Prints

Why I Teach

WHEN I ARRIVED AT FOOTE in 1994 from a solitary job in a library, I had no idea how much the experience of teaching would define me. I remember my first class, a trial lesson that I taught to eighth graders before being hired. Allie Kubler and Marion Candido—English Department chair and Mid-dle School head, respectively—sat in the back row and, along with the seventeen 13-year-olds, made for a nerve-racking audience. I was anxious the night before, memorizing every word I planned to say for the first 10 minutes, something that I still do before the first day of school each September.

I can picture the individual kids, many of whom I would get to know as my students the following year. A girl named Elise read aloud the poem “Hard Labor, Getting Tired” by the Italian poet Cesare Pavese and misread the word “piaz-zas” as “pizzas” in the line “There are summer/afternoons when even the piazzas are empty/under the sinking sun.” A classmate whispered to her and she blushed and laughed at herself. That mistake and gentle humor and self-conscious-ness still encapsulate what appeals to me about working with adolescents. A classroom, a class period, and kids—these are the components of a teaching life, and everything I love about and have learned from mine flows from them.

Though it may strike people as odd that someone as reserved as I am became a schoolteacher, much less remains one, I credit this quality for my attraction to the job. The strict limits of the class period unfolding in a confined space with students (usually) under my power gratify my need for struc-ture. And yet the informality and independence within the classroom feel truly liberating. Robert Frost was right when he wrote, “You have freedom when you’re easy in your harness.”

Margaret Edson, whose play Wit won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999, teaches sixth grade at a middle school in Georgia. Asked whether she had plans to write a new play, Edson said, “The things I want to say right now I’m saying in my classroom. And the great, joyful feeling of creativity I get in

my class 100 times a day.” I think of a class period as a kind of lyric poem—a not-too-short, not-too-long, regimented construction into which one can fit all sorts of creative flourishes. Sylvia Plath likened a good poem to a well-made box of bees, an apt metaphor for a lively middle- or high-school class. But unlike poetry, its immediacy cannot be preserved, making each new period a new start, another raid on the inarticulate, in T.S. Eliot’s words.

“No matter how beloved, a fifth-grade teacher is only beloved in fifth grade. After that we are like dioramas.” This line from David Gilbert’s novel & Sons rings true to me. Reunited with former students, I can’t help but feel that their physical, intellectual and emotional growth distances them, and that any attempt to revive what transpired in the classroom risks reducing it to a repertoire of anecdotes, dulling the glistening excitement of the present. “Classroom teaching is a physical, breath-based, eye-to-eye event,” Edson says. “It is not built on equipment or the past. It is not concerned about the future. It is in existence to go out of existence. It happens and then it vanishes.”

It’s common to speak of schoolteachers as bestowing a gift, or learning as much as they impart. But I have always felt grateful to the work itself; it showed me the power of empa-thy and how creativity shapes intellect. So while I welcome any positive effect I may have on my students, this matters less than our time in class together, every day, and the great risk involved, the question of whether I will succeed or fail, and how those terms will be defined. With so much at stake, it’s no wonder that what happens here ends up as who we are, interest borne in the blood, part of us, a pulse.

Michael Milburn teaches ninth grade English, and organizes the annual Ninth Grade Poetry Cabaret. He is the author of numerous books of poetry and essays, and his writing has appeared in Ploughshares, Poetry, New England Review and New Haven Review.

I think of a class period as a kind of lyric poem—a regimented construction into which one can fit all sorts of creative flourishes.

BY MICHAEL MILBURN

Classroom Visits • Alumni-Led Mini-Courses • Singing

Maypole and Sword Dancing • Family Fun Activities

Evening Gala • Musical Performances • Golf Tournament

And more!

Please register online at www.footeschool.org/Centennial

Foote School Centennial WeekendMay 13, 14 & 15, 2016

You areInvited!

Foote Prints Vol 43.1

May

Oct

The Foote School50 Loomis PlaceNew Haven, CT 06511

www.footeschool.org(203) 777-3464

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTEDNotice: Postal regulations require the school to pay 75 cents for every copy not deliverable as addressed. Please help us contain costs by notifying us of any change of address, giving both the old and new addresses.

Nonprofit Org.U.S. PostagePAIDNew Haven, CTPermit No. 181

Mark Your Calendars

Centennial WeekendMay 13, 14 & 15, 2016Alumni, students, parents, past parents and friends are invited to celebrate Foote’s 100th birthday with class-year dinners, talks by alumni, a mini-May Day and evening gala. Details and registration at www.footeschool.org/centennial

Grandparents DayFriday, October 7, 2016Grandparents and special friends are invited to visit grandchildren’s classrooms, participate in faculty-led mini-courses and enjoy an all-school assembly.