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Transcript of Georgian, January 2014
GEORGIANpublication of george scho ol, newtow n, pennsy lvania
INSIDE
JANUARY
2014
01perspect ives Exploring the Impact of Fitness on Learning
Vol. 86 No. 01
18supporting george schoolThe Hayden Family Legacy
bu i ld ing for a sustainable futureThe Fitness and Athletics Center
20survey results worth shouting aboutThe Remarkable Value of a George School Education
22
TABLE OF CONTENTS Vol. 86 | No. 01 | JANUARY 2014
GEORGIAN
PHOTOS: Inside Front Cover: Joe Kinsey ’15 works with Source coach Mike Rothwell to develop a daily exercise routine that helps improve memory, brain health, and physical fitness. (Photo by Bruce Weller) Front Cover: Image “Genius Boy” (Illustration from Mustafa Hacalaki at iStockphoto)
01 PERSPECTIVES Exploring the Impact of Fitness on Learning
02 New Lessons on Learning
04 Where the Mind Goes, Will the Body Follow?
06 Healthy Body, Healthy Mind
08 Mindfulness: Students Slow Down and Unplug
09 eQuiz Highlights
12 FEATURES
12 History of Athletics at George School
18 Supporting George School: The Hayden Family Legacy
20 Building for a Sustainable Future
22 Survey Results Worth Shouting About
26 CAMPUS NEWS & NOTES
30 ALUMNI TELL US
46 IN MEMORIAM
GEORGIAN | 1
PERSPECTI V ES
The new Fitness and Athletics Center that is cur-
rently being constructed on George School’s cam-
pus is located on the corner of Farm Drive directly
across from the Mollie Dodd Anderson Library and
catty-corner to the meetinghouse. The proximity
of these three buildings is symbolic in many ways.
Linking past, present, and future, the buildings also
reflect the important connection between “mind,
body, and spirit” that has long been held to be the
ideal in education.
Today we are coming to understand that
connection in new and very exciting ways. While
George School has a long commitment to educating
the “whole child,” for generations we, like educators
world-wide, have viewed the mind, the body, and
the spirit as three separate and distinct parts of the
whole. Today, thanks to groundbreaking research
in neuroscience, we are beginning to understand
how closely integrated these aspects of our being
really are.
In this edition of Perspectives, you will learn
about how the George School faculty is incorporat-
ing this new research. You’ll learn about the work
of neuroscientist Emily Falk ’99, who studies ways
that verbal messages (mind) influence physical
behavior (body). You’ll be introduced to the ways
that healthy eating and regular exercise (body)
help graduate Jessie Price ’91, and former faculty
member Ed Ayres to keep their minds more focused
and engaged throughout the day. Finally, gradu-
ate Jeffrey Mann ’88 and current faculty member
Michael Lo Stracco will introduce you to the
spiritual practice of mindfulness meditation and
the ways in which this practice is being incorpo-
rated into the George School curriculum to help
faculty and students stay focused (mind) and
healthy (body).
Whether seen as distinct and separate or under-
stood, as they are today, to be fully integrated, the
three pillars of “body, mind, and spirit” continue
to symbolize George School’s commitment to the
whole student.
PERSPECTI V ESB
RU
CE
WE
LL
ER
Exploring the Impact of Fitness on Learning
HEAD OF SCHOOL NANCY STARMER takes a walk with Freesoul El Shabazz-Thomspon ’15, Isabelle Oppenheimer ’16, and Sydney Denmark ’14 on a sunny fall day.
Perspectives EDITED BY LAURA LAVALLEE
2 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
Perspectives
BY ANDREA LEHMAN
Over the last decade, neuroscientists have been
uncovering evidence of the important relation-
ship between exercise and learning. Advances in
imaging are revealing the effects of exercise on
areas of the brain responsible for cognitive func-
tion. Studies on mindfulness are demonstrating its
impact on emotional health and executive func-
tioning. And educators are taking note.
At George School, our faculty members are
exploring the implications of these new discoveries
on curriculum and pedagogy. Leading the inquiry
is George School’s Foundational Skills Committee,
an “action research” team designed to help faculty
learn how to teach the skills, strategies, structures,
and dispositions common to all learning. Together
the committee read Brain Rules: 12 Principles for
Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
by John Medina, and presented their findings to
the entire faculty.
In Brain Rules Medina points to a number of short-
and long-term exercise-induced effects on cognitive
function, including increased blood f low, which
stimulates the creation of new blood vessels.
Exercise “allows more access to the bloodstream’s
goods and services, which include food distribu-
tion and waste disposal,” he says in Brain Rules.
“Imaging studies have shown that exercise literally
increases blood volume in a region of the brain
called the dentate gyrus…a vital constituent of the
hippocampus, a region deeply involved in mem-
ory formation.” In addition, “early studies indicate
that exercise also stimulates one of the brain’s most
powerful growth factors, BDNF,” which stands for
brain-derived neurotrophic factor. “BDNF exerts
a fertilizer-like growth effect on certain neurons in
the brain.”
Other researchers concur. Clinical psychiatrist
and Harvard professor John Ratey, author of Spark:
The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the
Brain and A User’s Guide to the Brain: Perception,
JERRICA BAUER ’16 AND NOELLE LUCIEN ’16 review pond water to identify microscopic life forms including protozoans and small animals.
New Lessons on Learning
BR
UC
E W
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GEORGIAN | 3
PERSPECTI V ES
Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain, has
also shown that exercise can optimize learning.
Exercise results in the production of neuro-
transmitters such as norepinephrine, dopamine,
serotonin, and endorphins as well as BDNF and
can lead to new brain cells in the hippocampus.
Benefits range from increased motivation and bet-
ter attention and self-control to improved planning
and organization.
Medina “would have treadmills in our class-
rooms,” quipped Scott Spence, associate head of
school, and though George School has eschewed
that option in favor of building a new centralized
fitness and athletics center, he anticipates a simi-
lar payoff. “Strong scientific evidence supports the
connection between exercise and improved exec-
utive functioning, including long-term memory,
problem-solving, reasoning, and attention—all so
critical for adolescents to manage the high school
experience. It’ll be great to have a facility that will
enable our students to more readily take advantage
of this knowledge.”
This research is also proving the soundness of
existing George School programs and approaches.
According to Scott, “It underscores the importance
of our physical education requirement—that stu-
dents should be in after-school sports or take a PE
class in order to get the aerobic exercise they need.
When schools focus so much on standardized test-
ing that they cut recess and other physical activity,
it’s not good for students.” It’s a policy indicative of
the school’s longtime focus on educating balanced,
well-rounded young people.
And the benefits of fitness on mental acuity
are not just limited to young people. Co-author
of The Alzheimers Prevention Program Gary Small,
M.D., discusses a new body of compelling research
that favors physical activity for mental acuity.
“When people exercise, the areas that control
memory, thinking, and intention increase in the
brain,” he said. “Regular exercisers have less of the
abnormal protein deposits in the brain that have
been linked to Alzheimer’s.”
In a 2013 study published in the Journal of
Aging Research, the authors found that aerobic
exercise and strength training impact the brain
differently—underscoring the importance of both
types of exercise. While both types of exercise are
beneficial to improving spatial memory, cardio
alone is capable of improving verbal memory. In a
2012 study from the Archives of Internal Medicine,
women in their seventies who practiced strength
training improved associative memory.
Mindfulness, or the process of careful, attentive
presence, is another intriguing area of research.
A new study from the University of California,
Santa Barbara demonstrated that mindfulness
training can improve cognitive abilities and even
raise test scores. The study showed that students
who practiced two weeks of mindfulness training,
including forty-five minutes of formal meditation
practice four days a week, boosted their Graduate
Record Examinations (GRE) results by an average
of 16 percent.
A new program at George School offered
by faculty member Michael LoStracco offers the
George School community weekly opportunities
to practice mindfulness. “Offering a space, a ref-
uge, where students can slow down and unplug and
be away from the screen, to know themselves and
be themselves, and practice being human for forty-
five minutes is incredibly important,” says Michael.
(See “Mindfulness” story, page 8.)
“The focus on new areas of brain research
has encouraged committees and individual faculty
members to study trends, attend conferences, and
synthesize and apply research on an ongoing basis,”
explains Scott. “We are striving to develop a body
of knowledge that suggests new areas to pursue
while providing support for what the school has
long done right.”
“ When people exercise, the areas that control memory, thinking, and intention increase in the brain.”
4 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
BY ANDREA LEHMAN
Just as health and fitness can have a positive effect
on brain function, new research is exploring
whether persuasive messages—and the way these
messages are processed by the brain—can have a
positive effect on health and fitness. The latter is a
primary focus of neuroscientist Emily Falk ’99 and
her lab, the Communication Neuroscience Lab at
the University of Pennsylvania. Their research is
yielding valuable insights about the impact of com-
munication on healthy, and unhealthy, behaviors.
Through imaging like functional MRIs, Emily’s
team studies neural responses to messaging, par-
ticularly health messaging. They look at the parts
of the brain that are active when messages are
received, concentrating on areas concerned with
self-related processing, such as the medial prefron-
tal cortex.
How do we behave in response to the messages
all around us? What makes successful ideas spread?
How can we predict whether persuasive messaging
—to stop smoking, wear sunscreen, or exercise,
for example—will actually get people to institute
positive change? How do the responses of individ-
uals and small groups translate to those of larger
populations? These are the questions being tackled
by Emily and her team. Some of their work is pure
scientific inquiry, published in scientific journals.
Some is more applied, often in partnership with
public health agencies.
“We think it’s really important to learn about how
behaviors become contagious,” said Emily. “Obesity
can spread almost like other diseases spread. We’re
trying to understand that from a neuroscience
perspective.”
For example, participants in one study were
exposed to messages to increase their sunscreen
use. The team looked at people’s brain responses
and stated intentions to change, and compared
them with data about people’s actual sunscreen use
behavior in the weeks before and after the study.
Brain response proved to be a better predictor of
whether people would actually alter their behavior.
The team then found the same results for smok-
ing behavior (neural responses to ads designed to
help smokers quit predicted behavior change above
and beyond people’s stated intentions to change).
The team is now looking at whether this is true
for physical activity behavior measured using
accelerometers.
Another project of the lab is research-
ing the adolescent brain’s sensitivity to neural
cues. In concert with the University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute, Emily’s team is
looking at why teens are so susceptible to risky peer
influences that lead to fatal automobile crashes in
the first year of being licensed. They’re examin-
ing what teens’ brains look like when they’re being
included or excluded from a group and relating it to
behavior in a driving simulator.
Reflecting on her own teenage years, Emily
is thankful that her George School teachers,
Perspectives
Where the Mind Goes, Will the Body Follow?
NEUROSCIENTIST Emily Falk ’99 studies neural responses to health messaging.
GEORGIAN | 5
PERSPECTI V ES
especially advisor Sam Smith, provided perspective
when she herself was a teen. And she credits George
School with instilling the value of collaboration:
“In order to do science in an effective way, you need
a really strong team. A lot of the Quaker values that
influence how you approach other people are
different than standard approaches to running a
lab. One of the things I’m really proud of is the way
people in my team support each other.”
Emily has recently returned to the Philadelphia
area, having been invited to move the lab from
the University of Michigan to the University of
Pennsylvania. Now an Assistant Professor at the
Annenberg School for Communication, she is
enjoying being back and spending more time with
George School classmates and her family, including
sister Lily ’15, a George School junior.
Busy setting up the new lab, Emily continues to
receive grants and accolades. Last year, she received
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s
New Innovator Award, which provides funding “to
study things in a more open-ended way for high-
risk, high-reward research.” In September, the lab
was awarded another NIH grant for a new study
that continues looking at strategies to reduce defen-
sive responses to health communications and to
promote physical activity. According to the grant
abstract, “Our core hypothesis is that the balance
of neural activity in regions associated with self-
related processing versus defensive counter arguing
is key in producing health behavior change,
and that self-affirmation (an innovative approach,
relatively new to the health behavior area) can alter
this balance.” The ultimate goal is to “improve our
capacity to design and select interventions that
successfully alter such behaviors.”
Emily sums it up simply: “Our work is really
fun. We’re doing good basic science and also
applied work to make people healthier, changing
norms and values for the good of society.”
How Your Brain Helps Ideas Go Viral
Have you ever wondered how to predict if an
idea or a photo will go viral on Facebook or
Twitter? Emily was the lead author of a study
published in July 2013 Psychological Science
that identified for the first time, the areas of
the brain that are associated with the suc-
cessful spread of ideas. The study was con-
ducted by a team of University of California
Los Angeles scientists while Emily was a UCLA
doctoral student.
“We’re constantly being exposed to infor-
mation on Facebook, Twitter, and so on,” said
senior author and UCLA professor Matthew
Lieberman, explaining the study’s rationale
in a UCLA news release. “Some of it we pass
on, and a lot of it we don’t. Is there something
that happens in the moment we first see it—
maybe before we even realize we might pass it
on—that is different for those things that we
will pass on successfully versus those that we
won’t?”
It turns out, the study suggests there is.
The scientists found that the students who
were especially good at persuading others
showed significantly more activity in a brain
region known as the temporoparietal junc-
tion, or TPJ, at the time they were first exposed
to the ideas they would later recommend. The
more activated the TPJ region of the students’
brains were, the more they wanted to share the
idea, even when it wasn’t something they found
interesting themselves.
“Before this study, we didn’t know what
brain regions were associated with ideas that
become contagious, and we didn’t know what
regions were associated with being an effec-
tive communicator of ideas,” said Emily. “Now
we have mapped the brain regions associated
with ideas and in the future, we would like to
be able to use these brain maps to forecast what
ideas are likely to be successful and who is
likely to be effective at spreading them.”
IST
OC
KP
HO
TO
6 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
6 | GEORGIAN
BY LAURA LAVALLEE
Every day we are bombarded by information on
how to stay healthy. Eat less of this and more of
that, exercise every day, eat smaller portions, lower
your stress levels, get more sleep, separate work
and home—sometimes it seems like becoming a
little bit healthier could be a full-time job. George
School community members Jessie Price ’91,
former faculty member Ed Ayres, and Jeffrey
Mann ’88 shared their own experiences with eating
healthfully, staying fit, and practicing mindfulness.
Jessie Price ’91 has been eating well since
childhood. Growing up in a home with a wood
burning stove in the kitchen, the kitchen was the
warmest place in the house and the best place to
hang out.
“I was always drawn to fresh fruits and vege-
tables,” said Jessie who is now the editor-in-chief of
EatingWell Magazine. In this role, Jessie is charged
with executing the mission of the magazine: help-
ing people make delicious and healthy food at
home.
“Eating healthfully came sort of naturally to
me but I’ve learned so much more about it since
I began working at EatingWell,” she shared. “We are
lucky to have several registered dieticians on staff
and they are the real experts on nutrition.”
According to Jessie there are several “big picture”
things you can do to eat more healthfully on a day-
to-day basis.
“Choose whole grain foods instead of those
made from refined f lours. Add more vegetables
to everything—for example, add shredded zucchini
to your chili, it will melt right in and you won’t
even realize it’s there,” she said.
Choosing lean meats and eating them in
appropriate portions is important, too. “Three
ounces is the right serving size for meat—and
when most people see that on a plate they think it
looks tiny.”
For Jessie, eating healthfully helps her to stay
focused and engaged throughout the day. “I feel
better when I am well-nourished and my brain is
humming along—which happens after I eat my
fruit, yogurt, and a few nuts each morning. It’s like
everything just comes together.”
She has been a contributor to at least seven
cookbooks and is also the author of the James
Beard Award-winning cookbook The Simple Art
of EatingWell.
But eating isn’t just a means to keep her body
going. “Eating is such a pleasurable part of life,”
shared Jessie. “The most important thing about
food is to enjoy it. Yes, I love healthy food but the
most important thing is that it tastes great.”
Perspectives
Healthy Body, Healthy Mind
HEALTHY EATING, STAYING FIT, AND MINDFULNESS PRACTICE are important parts of the lives of Jessie Price ’91, Ed Ayres ffac, and Jeffrey Mann ’88.
GEORGIAN | 7
PERSPECTI V ES
Ed Ayres, a former faculty member, finds running
to be one of the most pleasurable activities.
At seventy-one years old he is training to run an
ultramarathon—and even as he trains for it, run-
ning an average of at least fifteen to twenty miles
each day, he will tell you that running still feels as
good as it did at 16.
“For me, running isn’t just a sport—it con-
nects me to my world,” he shared. “I usually start
each day with a run. It’s essential. It helps me get
in sync with myself. It has taught me that if I want
to get things done as soon as possible and as well
as possible, I need to slow down.”
The idea of slowing down to get ahead is one
that Ed discusses in his book The Longest Race:
A Lifelong Runner, An Iconic Ultramarathon, and the
Case for Human Endurance. The book is an account
of the second time Ed ran the JFK 50 mile ultrama-
rathon—at sixty years old.
“The first mile, like a scene from an old
Western, is just get out of town…but the next
two miles are a fairly steep climb to the South
Mountain pass, where you leave the road and enter
a thirteen-mile segment of the…Appalachian
Trail (AT). The conundrum is that on one hand
you want to get to the trailhead before the horde
does…On the other hand, going up the South
Mountain road, it would be a big mistake to go too
fast. It’s a tricky thing to balance…”.
Ed considers this—the idea of slowing down
and clearing your mind in order to accomplish
your goals—essential.
In fact, he believes it is counter-intuitive to
human nature that our culture moves so quickly.
According to Ed our ability to complete endur-
ance competitions, is closely tied to our ability to
achieve a state of calm before we begin.
“The guy with the bullhorn announced that
we had thirty seconds, and then at 6:59:50 he
began a countdown: ‘Ten, nine, eight…’. It was
time to let my mind go blank, Zenlike. This was
important,” he wrote in The Longest Race.
The benefits of running are tied to more than
just good health. Ed has spent years looking at the
connection between running and brain develop-
ment through his work at Running Times magazine,
which he founded with a George School alumnus.
Citing a Swedish study that explored how
active cardiovascular exercise impacted IQ scores,
Ed shared that running is critical to his ability to
write and think.
“I probably spend about as much time running as
I do writing. When I was working at George School
I sensed there was a connection and later when
I was editing the magazine I was writing about this
connection. Running wakes you up and oxygen-
ates your brain. People often say they have found
connections between their ability to solve problems
and running.”
Jeffrey K. Mann ’88 has also found a connec-
tion between thought and physical activity. When
he began practicing martial arts in college it was
for the physical activity. When he later learned
about mindfulness, his martial arts practice
reached a new level.
“Mindfulness is a passive awareness of every-
thing you can perceive,” said Jeffrey who began
practicing mindfulness during his daily martial
arts training a few years ago.
“In practicing a physical discipline you are
cultivating yourself and becoming a productive
member of society,” said Jeffrey. “Practicing mind-
fulness improves my abilities as a martial artist.”
A professor of religion at Susquehanna
University and author of When Buddhists Attack:
The Curious Relationship between Zen and the
Martial Arts, Jeffrey has found that his work in
mindfulness has carried over into his teaching and
it helps him strive to be the best teacher he can be.
“I need to engage and challenge students for
long periods of time, lecturing them about a sub-
ject which is usually outside their chosen major.
I am at my best…when I am the most present with
them,” he said. “The mindfulness that Zen artic-
ulates, and that I seek to cultivate through medi-
tation and…martial arts, is what helps me make
progress toward becoming more of that kind of
teacher.”
And mindfulness isn’t limited to the practice
of martial arts. “In Zen meditation, one attends to
the moment and is present with oneself and all that
is in one’s environment. This has obvious benefits
for people engaged in innumerable physical
disciplines. The goalkeeper cannot afford to be
distracted by memories of the last game she
played…[and] the runner cannot forget to breathe
for the last 100 meters of the 300 meter hurdles—
a lesson I learned at GS.”
“Mindfulness is the idea of learning one thing
so you can do 10,000,” says Jeffrey, and it’s this
process of focusing his mind on the moment that
has helped him to achieve greater connection to the
martial arts he practices.
8 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
8 | GEORGIAN
Mindfulness is another intriguing area of research
on learning and the brain. Generations of George
School graduates have attested to the benefits
derived from centering themselves in meeting for
worship. More recently, varied meditative practices
have been taught in the religion curriculum, espe-
cially in its new freshman and sophomore courses.
Though these experiences have an attendant spiri-
tual dimension, mindfulness practice—directing
one’s attention to the present moment experience,
intentionally, repeatedly, and without judgment—
need not.
According to English and religion teacher
Michael Lo Stracco, “There has long been anec-
dotal evidence that mindfulness practice supports
and strengthens emotional regulation and helps to
reduce stress and anxiety, but in recent years there
have been many scientific research studies to sup-
port that.” Using his personal interest as a spring-
board, Michael has studied mindfulness and is
sharing both the research and the practice with
the George School community.
For the former, he cites two studies. In one con-
ducted at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard
Medical School, MRIs revealed that participation
in a program of mindfulness-based stress reduction
“is associated with changes in gray matter concen-
tration in brain regions involved in learning and
memory processes, emotion regulation, self-
referential processing, and perspective taking.”
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
demonstrated that “brief mindfulness training
significantly improved visuo-spatial processing,
working memory, and executive functioning.”
Bolstered by this evidence, Michael began
offering weekly mindfulness practice sessions
to the George School community this fall. Partici-
pants learn exercises to focus attention and reduce
stress in a continual process of noticing and redi-
recting that strengthens attention like one would
strengthen a muscle. Michael sees the practice as
particularly useful to adolescents, whose fast-paced
and pressure-filled lives are filled with social media
and technology. “Offering a space, a refuge, where
students can slow down and unplug and be away
from the screen, to know themselves and be them-
selves, and practice being human for forty-five
minutes is incredibly important.”
With faculty approval, the sessions are being
offered as a choice for students caught up in the
minor discipline system as an alternative to a
Tuesday evening Teachers’ Convenience (TC) study
hall. Michael proposed it as a way “to disassociate
discipline with punishment and make it more
instructive, more powerful. It’s a way of getting at
those behavior patterns that lead to TC study hall
and other forms of discipline, to teach students
not to impulsively react. Mindfulness practice
really does help with decision making and plan-
ning, preparing them for decisions with weightier
consequences.”
MICHAEL LO STRACCO leads a mindfulness practice session for students including Savannah Merritt ’17 and Maanav Patel ’17, helping them to slow down and unplug.
Mindfulness: Students Slow Down and Unplug
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GEORGIAN | 9
PERSPECTI V ES
Perspectives
The August eQuiz asked alumni to share their
thoughts on the connection between physi-
cal fitness, mental acuity, and overall wellness.
Recent research has shown that the mind-body
connection is strong—regular exercise helps
relieve stress, increase information process-
ing, and improve memory functions. Some of the
responses to the eQuiz are highlighted here.
The Body-Mind Connection
1950 | Paul Craig
Exercise and brain; brain and exercise… If I don’t
exercise I can’t think. Exercise lets us make contact
with the mind-body problem. It helps us “get in
the moment.” Those moments are the most satisfy-
ing we experience. When we’re so involved with an
activity that time vanishes, we’re at our most pro-
ductive and our most human.
1952 | Headley S. White Jr.
We need massive education of the American pub-
lic on the positive effects of regular exercise of the
body and brain and the negative consequences of
the lack thereof.
1961 | Margaret Uehlein Suby-Dorney
I always feel both physically better and more alert
after exercise. On days when I do not exercise or
have much to do, I am noticeably “duller” mentally
and can feel the pull of just sitting and staring.
1966 | Rachel A. Eisenhard Cartwright
A three-mile walk every day—walking over hills on
back roads or in parks—relieves stress immediately,
and promotes a feeling of well-being and definitely,
for me at least, raises mental acuity. Swimming is
another way to promote a feeling of well-being and
later in the day, increased alertness.
1973 | Daphne P. Taylor
I make time to walk wherever I am an hour a day
just to clear the mind and help the stress.
1979 | Todd Rutstein
I am fascinated by the ways in which exercise stim-
ulates the thought process. It often seems that
the most interesting ideas are generated during
a workout. In light of this, I am inclined to think
of exercise as another aspect of professional devel-
opment—indeed, human development. It is much
more than just about enhancing physical well-
being. I was the kind of person—still am—who
would never have been able to sit still in class if I did
not have the promise of the glorious physical outlet
destined to appear at the end of the school day.
1980 | Kevin J. Klenner
Exercise gives me the stamina to get through
many a twelve-hour work day and keep a calm and
patient façade in challenging circumstances.
1985 | Christina N. Raymond
I find while I’m exercising that ideas pop into my
head, new perspectives occur, and affirmation
of direction or goals happens.
1986 | David Biester
Exercise relieves stress and makes me feel as if I
have more energy. Plus I sleep better, which is nice.
1991 | India F. D. Ennis
I am fascinated by how powerful what we consume
is relative to how we function and how overlooked
it is by everyone. I hope I can help to spread the
word that good food is fuel for our brain and our
soul.
1993 | Jeremiah S. Burns
As an educator who is interested in helping students
become more engaged in the lessons I teach,
I have found it helpful to read about the ways
movement and learning are connected.
1995 | Ann St. Claire
As a pre-natal yoga teacher I help my students
understand the connection between mind and body
and the importance of breath to calm, energize,
and focus the mind.
2003 | Nicole Grennbaum
Physical activity helps calm me and restores my
cheerfulness.
eQuiz Highlights
10 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
You were a competitive swimmer for many years. How did that factor into other parts of your life, especially your academics?I started swimming seriously in the eighth grade.
While at George School, I took a heavy course load.
It was similar when I got to Berkeley. I was follow-
ing a challenging path, academically and in the pool.
I fell into economics, and it was a great fit. By my
senior year, I was tutoring other student-athletes and
working as a research assistant for a professor. I did
better when I had a full plate and needed to focus—
like at George School, which wants you to have a well-
rounded experience.
After the Olympic trials in 2004, I “retired,” and
I didn’t really have a direction fitness-wise. I didn’t
have the structure of training goals. I went to the gym
occasionally, but I found myself worrying about my
work from the minute I got up to the minute I’d go
to bed. That impacted how I felt about myself until
I started getting back into a routine and training for
triathlons. Now I typically do five or six a year.
Now that you’re working, what benefits do you get from your fitness regimen?When I finished college, I worked at the Brookings
Institution for three years before getting my Ph.D.
in economics from Columbia University. Now I’m at
the Federal Reserve and taking time for fitness is still
important. I do better when I can step away, go for
a run, stop actively thinking about every little
piece. When I return to work, I start fresh and see
it more broadly. That’s what works for me. Fitness
allows me to have balance and be effective in every-
thing else that I’m doing.
What advice would you give to scholar-athletes pursuing excellence on both sides of the hyphen?Focus on each one in the moment. If you’re going
through a bad period in one area of your life, let
positive experiences in the other provide confirma-
tion that you can get through the difficult times.
Build on successes to bridge the gap. Having that
balance creates a healthy mental state that enables
you to be successful in all aspects of your life.
Alumni Profile: Alice Henriques ’98
2004 | Lindsay L. Stephenson
I work out every weekday before work and this
helps me stay focused throughout the day. I also get
up and walk around my f loor when I find myself
getting sleepy at my desk.
Sports and Culture
1938 | John F. Cadwallader
I have often thought that if every child between
K-12 was required to exercise from one to two
hours every day there would be less drugs and obe-
sity in the world. All athletic endeavors at public
and private schools should be distributed for the
benefit of all students and not just the school jocks.
It would be a different world!
1952 | William G. Nelson
One common thread among almost all walks of
life and almost all levels of society happens to be
sports. Thus I could strike up a conversation with
almost any one from a cab driver to a CEO by talk-
ing about sports.
Lessons Learned at George School
1968 | Pat K. Kramon Pincus
The model we learned from Anne LeDuc for
healthy living—fresh air, regular exercise, and good
eating habits—affected my future choices and life-
habits!! Many of us learned important life lessons
about living a healthy, well-balanced life (in all
ways) from Anne.
GEORGIAN | 11
PERSPECTI V ES
What made you choose to study how the mind works?I originally started studying biology, first at George
School and then at Penn State. But I found that my
real interest lay in behavior and explaining behavior.
Initially I wanted to study animals in the wild, look-
ing at group behavior—which ones were dominant
and which ones subordinate. But in grad school at the
University of Michigan I switched over from apes to
human children. Now I look mainly at preschoolers.
That age is fascinating. My field is social cognition,
and the part that I study is called “theory of mind.”
Specifically, what do you research?I’m looking at when children know that other people’s
behavior is caused by internal states and not necessarily
by the external state of affairs. As adults, we know that
behaviors are driven by what you believe. For example,
if you want to find something, you look where you
think it is. Three-year-olds don’t get that. By five, chil-
dren are pretty sophisticated. I’m curious about how
they get from reality-based to thought-based behavior
and what contributes to the change. In my research,
I’ve found that children with better language skills do
it earlier and children with more siblings do it earlier.
They’re confronted with other people’s expectations.
As psychologists, we try to predict what people will do
in certain situations, and we’re really good at it. That’s
why psychology is considered a science—the
science of human behavior.
Do you enjoy being a professor at Bard College?I love Bard. It is so much like George School. It’s a small
interdisciplinary community. People in different fields
have discussions all the time. Choosing to spend my
life at a small liberal arts college provides a quality
of life I really prioritize. I love working in a culture
of ideas.
Alumni Profile: Sarah Dunphy-Lelii ’96
1969 | Ann Heimlich
I learned to try new physical challenges such
as field hockey and even cheerleading. It was a
combination of overcoming innate shyness and
perfectionist tendencies. You really can’t learn
how to do something new without taking risks
and making mistakes. You just have to learn from
those errors and not make the same mistake(s)
over and over.
1973 | John B. Hoffman
One of the things I most loved about George School
was the equal emphasis on academics, athletics,
and the arts.
1978 | Marta Ernst
George school helped me value routine exercise.
1979 | Tracey Holliday
George School allowed me to play team sports
which introduced me to a love of sports, physical
activity, team work, and discipline.
1986 | Laura Grontkowski James
When I was at GS, I started an exercise program
that I have continued thoughout my whole life—
I started running. At 44, I just completed an
83-mile hike across England. I’ve exercised for my
weight, my joints, my f lexibility, and my mood and
stress level. It is one of the “Four Cornerstones”
as I say to my patients (I’m a doctor) that are essen-
tial for good health: exercise, diet, sleep, and stress
management.
1998 | Annemarie R. P. Poniz Haar
I think GS generally taught us the importance of
exercise and how it helps shape us both physically
and mentally.
2004 | Daniel Suchenski
I think the GS approach to whole person develop-
ment was an incredibly formative experience in my
life.
Responses might be edited due to space limitation
and Georgian style guidelines.
12 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
1893. George School opens with 155 students.
Its mission is “to offer that physical, mental, and
ethical culture which we have seen producing
such excellent results.”
1895. The first gym is constructed with the
goal of “exhausting the students physically.”
Other facilities include six tennis courts and two
earthen-floored playrooms in the east and west
Main basements. The ring road around Main
is used for relay races and Eyre Line is used for
sprints.
1895. Mary Esther Sawyer is hired as director of
gymnasium, teaching physical education for both
boys and girls. A specialist in gymnastics, her
student exhibitions are open to the public and an
early feature of campus life.
1898. Curtis Eves, Class of 1898, is hired upon
graduation to supervise activities with the stu-
dents. He would later be described as the father
of athletics at George School.
ATHLETICSat George School
HISTORY OF
GEORGIAN | 13
FEATURES
1900. Curtis Eves arranges the first interscho-
lastic athletic contest, a basketball game against
Friends Central, which George School wins, 55-4.
1902. A quarter-mile running track is con-
structed on the grounds in the location of the
present Cougar Track.
1903. The area surrounded by the running track
is graded, named Sharon Field, and put into use
for soccer, baseball, and intramural football.
1909. A modest, fifty-foot swimming pool is
added to the gym.
1913. The boys’ athletic program includes inter-
scholastic teams in soccer, basketball, swimming,
tennis, track, and baseball. There had also been
one trial interscholastic football game and several
seasons of lacrosse.
1920. George School Committee, the school’s
board of trustees, authorizes interscholastic
competition for girls in hockey, basketball,
and tennis. Grace Thwing (Thwingie) is hired as
director of girls’ physical education. Thwingie’s
biographer wrote, “She has proved through her
work that the training of the body can be as
beautiful and sensitive a process as the training
of the mind; that character development through
the intimate acquaintance with the mind, heart,
and spirit is as much the ideal of physical educa-
tion as of any other education.”
14 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
1922. Stanley Sutton is hired as director of
boys’ physical education. During the Thwing-
Sutton years, there is a simple clarity in the lives
of George School students. Between the end of
classes and dinner, your body, heart, and soul
belonged to the Athletic Association.
1923. Stanley Sutton starts football as an
interscholastic sport and adds wrestling, cross
country, and swimming during his tenure as
director. He also founds the George School Cross
Country Invitational.
1925. George School expands its athletic facili-
ties to add a soccer-baseball field (Alumni Field)
in place of a former corn field, and below South
Lawn, a hockey field and six tennis courts are
added for girls. George School’s catalog at the
time outlined the virtues of competition, which
would “produce fun, thrills, physical benefits,
mental discipline, self-control, fairness to others,
and good sportsmanship.”
1928. Heath Point is a girls’ physical education
program designed for students with little prospect
of earning a varsity letter in a team sport.
Requirements include a brisk morning wake-up
routine—either a cold shower or a walk around
Main before breakfast—and no eating between
meals. The major activity was hiking with a sub-
stantial mileage (one 1930’s graduate recalls it as
150 miles) required over the length of a school year.
1938. George School Committee establishes sets
of rules and regulations governing coed tennis,
badminton, deck tennis, volleyball, swimming,
and golf.
1951. Alumni Gym is built for boys. The girls
gain exclusive use of the more convenient
old gym.
GEORGIAN | 15
FEATURES
1952. Robert Geissinger (Geiss) comes to
George School as assistant director of physical
education. He serves as the director from 1962
until he retires in 1990. He expands the athletics
program during his tenure to include interscho-
lastic lacrosse, cross country, and golf.
1962. Anne LeDuc joins George School as direc-
tor of the girls’ athletics department. During
her tenure, soccer, cross country, track, softball,
cheerleading, equestrian, and golf are added to
the list of competitive sports. Her philosophy is
to “place the emphasis on teaching more than
coaching. The purpose is to equip our girls ath-
letically and psychologically, to learn skills and
achieve fitness, to enhance self-esteem, to solve
problems, to deal with stress, and to pursue excel-
lence by performing to the best of their ability.”
1964. In the Georgian, Geiss describes the pri-
mary emphasis of the athletic program as the
healthy development of the individual. Plenty
of vigorous exercise causes the athlete to rest
better, eat more, breathe more deeply and rap-
idly, and enjoy better circulation and better use
of all bodily systems. The boys’ athletic program
involves 180 of 228 boys on twenty competitive
athletic teams at three levels of skill—varsity,
junior varsity, and cub—in 167 contests.
1965. George School selects the cougar as the
school mascot through a student opinion poll.
Purportedly, cougars won by a large margin over
the other choices: bobcats, wildcats, dragons,
huskies, rams, and bulldogs.
1967. The varsity football team has an
undefeated season.
16 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
1971. Girls hockey team travels to the
Caribbean. A trip to England follows a year later.
1977. Worth Sports Center and Marshall-Platt
Swimming Pool open. The facility becomes the
girls’ “turf,” and the site of the girls’ athletics
department offices.
1983. The equestrian program begins on the site
of the former pastures of the school’s dairy farm.
1986. Nancy Zurn Bernardini, a legendary
coach of field hockey, lacrosse, and basketball,
and girls’ assistant athletic director since 1978,
succeeds Anne LeDuc as girls’ athletic director.
1990. David Satterthwaite ’65 becomes boys’
athletic director. Basketball, cross country,
lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track are
offered for interscholastic competition for boys
and girls separately. Football and wrestling are
offered for boys while field hockey and softball
are offered for girls. Four team sports are offi-
cially coed: diving, riding, cheerleading, and golf.
1996. George School adds an interscholastic
coed winter track team and later, an interscholas-
tic girls’ volleyball team.
1999. George School adopts the colors of green
and white, replacing the original school colors
of buff and brown which are increasingly difficult
to find in standard uniform options.
GEORGIAN | 17
FEATURES
2009. George Long, Jr. returns to George School
as boys’ athletics director.
2010. George School expands and renovates the
former weight room of the Alumni Gym, adding
a performance and wellness center managed by
the Source Institute, a strength and conditioning
company that emphasizes personal development
through physical activity, athletic performance,
and optimal health.
2010. The two outdoor riding rings are resur-
faced as the first part of the upgrades to George
School’s equestrian program. The following
year, the tack room is substantially renovated to
increase storage space for equipment and to add
individual locker rooms for boys and girls, com-
plete with ventilated lockers. Planning begins for
enhancements to the equestrian program includ-
ing an indoor riding ring.
2011. The original cinder track and athletic field
are replaced with a new all-weather running track
and a synthetic turf field. The field is dedicated
in honor of coaches Bob Geissinger, Anne LeDuc,
and John Gleeson ’65. The track is dedicated in
honor of David Satterthwaite ’65.
2012. The soccer field that generations of
athletes have played upon is dedicated in honor
of Russ Weimar ’48 and Paul Machemer ’65.
2013. In March, construction begins on a
100,000 square-foot fitness and athletics center.
The new facility will include a performance gym,
a multipurpose field house, fitness center,
swimming pool, exercise and movement studio,
a wrestling room, locker and training rooms,
offices, and classrooms.
18 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
BY ANDREA LEHMAN
The Hayden family’s connection to George School
began in 1998, when Sarah Hayden Hall ’02 was a
freshman. The time since may be relatively short
by family legacy standards, but the school’s impact
on the Haydens and theirs on the school are any-
thing but.
Sarah is the first of four Hayden children to
attend, followed by Steve ’04, Scott ’08, and Becca
’14. When Becca graduates in the spring, parents
Marilyn and Don will have been at George School
for fourteen of the last sixteen years. During that
time, Don worked as a Bristol-Myers Squibb exec-
utive and more recently with small pharmaceuti-
cal biotech companies while Marilyn kept home
and family running smoothly while also engaged in
a variety of community activities. They also found
time to be active participants in the George School
community.
Like other parents of day students, Marilyn
and Don cheered from the sidelines and stands,
brought goodies for cookie and candy drops, and
served as chaperones, chauffeurs, and off-site inn-
keepers for classmates. “Our children’s lives and,
by extension, our lives were a mixed day-boarding
experience,” notes Don. “Our children spent a lot
of time on campus, and boarders spent a lot of time
at our house. It was a particular benefit to get to
know their friends.”
When you watch four children spend their
formative years at an institution, you get a clear
picture of what the school does well. For the
Haydens, it is accommodating and nurturing
diverse people. “The school was a different expe-
rience for each of the children,” says Don. “They
were able to find a set of experiences that they made
unique to them. From an academic and curriculum
standpoint, they were each able to find paths and
teachers that maximized their development, and
they put together extracurricular activities to suit
their own interests and capabilities.
“One of the things about the school that we
find attractive is that diversity is multidimensional,
Supporting George School:The Hayden Family Legacy
THE HAYDEN FAMILY — Don and Marilyn Hayden; Steve Hayden ’04 and Shannon Farley; Peter, Emerson, and Sarah Hayden Hall ’02; Scott Hayden ’08 and Becca Hayden ’14.
GEORGIAN | 19
FEATURES
not just in terms of race, ethnicity, and religion, but
in ways of thinking. All of that goes into the wealth
of experiences students can take advantage of dur-
ing their time at George School. What we see in our
children now that’s attributable to their experience
then is that they’re broadly prepared to participate
in the world around them. They’re prepared to be
successful professionally, to be socially involved, to
be f lexible, adaptable, and open-minded.”
It’s the school’s complete education—its mul-
tifaceted impact on multifaceted people—that has
led the Haydens to become involved in ways above
and beyond the typical. Longtime supporters of
the Parent Annual Fund, they’ve provided energy
as well as funds by serving as solicitors and donors.
“We’ve contributed to the general fund to enable
the school to best direct dollars to where they will
do the most good,” says Marilyn.
In 2004, the Haydens got involved in efforts
to build the new Cougar track and field—the
early stages of what would become the Fitness and
Athletics Capital Initiative: Fit for the Future. They
had seen other capital projects create wonderful
facilities for students’ academic and social benefit,
but they knew the athletics facilities were lagging
behind. Though their children all played varsity
sports, their reason for contributing “wasn’t our
kids’ involvement so much as the school’s need,”
says Marilyn. “The facilities really had to catch up.”
“George School does a wonderful job of get-
ting you involved and then finds a way to get you
more deeply involved,” jokes Don. After joining the
campaign committee, he became co-chair along-
side David Bruton as the campaign turned to a new
Fitness and Athletics Center. Don is eager to get
other families involved, too.
Thanks to George School’s “whole-person
approach to the development of children,” the cen-
ter, currently under construction, will be not just
for varsity teams but for everyone. That appealed
to the entire Hayden family, who discussed their
support for the project and the community. A fully
equipped 4,000-square-foot fitness center on the
second f loor will be named the Hayden Family
Fitness Center in their honor. It was a gift in keep-
ing with family interests and values, nurtured at
George School.
Today Scott works for a New York philan-
thropy and fundraising consulting firm called
Changing Our World. He sees it as the natural out-
growth of his interest in social service and social
justice, whose seeds were planted both at George
School and at Loyola University Maryland. In the
new fitness center, he sees facilities not just for
building muscle, but for building community.
“At George School, playing sports forces people
to connect with one another. The new fitness center
will be a place for people to interact, where people
can come together and talk as well as work out.”
Where Scott’s focus is more on communica-
tion, Sarah’s is on wellness. She manages a wellness
facility that takes a global, whole-body approach,
encompassing chiropractic, fitness training and
classes, massage therapy, meditation, and nutri-
tion counseling. “I used to go work out in the base-
ment of the Alumni Gym before its renovations.
I remember the cold concrete f loors,” she ref lects.
“A lot of people have to feel comfortable to
build a routine.” She sees the new facility as doing
just that. “Providing people with an opportunity to
improve their health is wonderful.” She looks for-
ward to seeing her son, Emerson, use it when and
if he attends the school around 2026, as the whole
family hopes.
Steve, who works for an IT consulting firm,
has also built off of experiences at George School.
He is involved in several community organizations
and supports the George School Annual Fund.
Don and Marilyn plan to stay involved at
George School even without a child or grandchild
there. Meanwhile, Don notes that Becca, Scott,
Steve, and Sarah all “take their place in the com-
munity seriously.” Becca continues to be involved
in varsity sports and a variety of organizations,
while Scott, Steve, and Sarah stay in touch through
ongoing personal contacts and active roles in their
reunions. Clearly, the Hayden family is deeply con-
nected to George School now, and for a lifetime.
“ At George School, playing sports forces people to connect with one another. The new fitness center will be a place for people to interact, where people can come together and talk as well as work out.”
20 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
BY LAURA LAVALLEE
Sustainability is an important part of life at George
School. Our on-campus organic garden provides
fresh produce to the dining hall. The dining hall
then composts food waste to be used to enrich the
soil in the organic garden. The recent renovation
of McFeely updated the building to feature high-
tech, eco-friendly classrooms. The LEED gold
certified Anderson Library has a green roof to help
with drainage and irrigation. George School’s latest
example of sustainability, our new Fitness and
Athletics Center, is rising behind the trees at the
south end of campus.
The new Fitness and Athletics Center will
feature a number of green components to help
reduce our overall environmental footprint. From
water-wise landscaping to energy-efficient radiant
f looring, the building is being built with the intent
to achieve LEED certification—no easy feat when
constructing a building of this type.
“As you may know, the LEED rating system
attempts to evaluate the environmental perfor-
mance of a building project from a ‘whole-building’
perspective and seeks to provide a definitive
standard of what is a ‘Green’ building,” said Stuart
Billings, one of the lead designers from Bowie
Gridley Architects, the firm that designed
Anderson Library and the new Fitness and Athletics
Center.
New construction earns credits in six major
categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency,
energy and atmosphere, materials and resources,
indoor environmental quality, and innovation and
design process.
Despite many known obstacles to achieving
LEED certification in a building of this size and
type, George School is committed to achieving
LEED certification.
“We aren’t working toward a specific level [of
certification]” said Mike Kosoff ’56, George School
trustee and local project executive, “but we are
Building for a Sustainable Future:George School’s New Fitness and Athletics Center
THE RADIANT HEATING SYSTEM is installed in the f loor of the field house, the southwest quadrant of the center, which will feature two courts for training and competition. The radiant f looring is designed to provide an energy-efficient heating system in areas of high use.
GEORGIAN | 21
FEATURES
doing everything we can to be as environmentally
sustainable and thoughtful [as we can] about the
construction.”
Mike lists the green roof as being critical in
earning energy and atmosphere credits—which
encourage building better energy performance
through innovative strategies. The rain gardens
and the abundant insulation throughout the build-
ing will also help George School earn credits in this
category.
“People won’t see many of the green aspects
in the building,” said Mike. “One [thing people
won’t see] is the durable f luid air and water barrier
that we applied to the block work before the exte-
rior bricks were placed on the façade.” The building
also boasts twenty-seven linear feet of solar panels
on the roof which are designed to heat the potable
water for the building.
In addition, the building will feature water
efficient landscaping to eliminate the need for
irrigation and measured service shower fixtures
and lavatory faucets as well as low f low toilets
and urinals to reduce water consumption.
Another aspect of LEED certification requires
that more than 75 percent of project waste must
be diverted from landfills. Through August 2013,
more than 98 percent of the waste created during
the demolition of Worth Sports Center was recy-
cled. The rubble—including brick, block, concrete,
and masonry—was separated on site and hauled
to a quarry where it was processed into a variety
of fill products including sub-base and road-base.
Commingled waste was sent to Revolution
Recovery, a Philadelphia-based recycling center
that aids in the recycling of construction site waste.
Constructing a building of this size is a sig-
nificant undertaking and ensuring the build-
ing achieves LEED certification poses an even
greater challenge. By working to ensure that the
new Fitness and Athletics Center is LEED certi-
fied, George School continues our commitment to
sustainability.
“Green buildings save energy and water,
produce fewer carbon emissions, cause less waste,
and create healthier environments for the com-
munities they serve,” says Head of School Nancy
Starmer. “This new project is another step towards
our goal of a leadership position in environmental
sustainability. We are counting on all of you to
help us finish the fundraising campaign for this
remarkable green building.”
To learn about naming opportunities within
the building, including the sustainable green
roof garden, please contact Tessa Bailey-Findley,
stewardship and donor relations coordinator,
at 215.579.6572.
ATOP THE GREEN ROOF, construction workers install an exterior brick wall with slate trim over the durable f luid air and water barrier coating the building. The building also boasts twenty-seven linear feet of solar panels on the roof which are designed to sustainably heat the potable water for the building.
THE RUBBLE FROM THE DEMOLITION—including brick, block, con-crete, and masonry—is separated on site and hauled to a quarry where it was processed into a variety of fill products including sub-base and road-base.
“ Green buildings save energy and water, produce fewer carbon emissions, cause less waste, and create healthier environments for the communities they serve.”
22 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
OUTSTANDING OVERALL SATISFACTION➤ The alumni score for their overall satisfaction with
George School hit 4.6 on a five-point scale.
This achievement was matched by only two other
schools of the many schools whose alumni
completed surveys tabulated by LMI. ★➤ The parent score of 4.3 for satisfaction topped
the 4.2 average score among 112 parent surveys
done by LMI.
➤ The student score of 3.9 matched the average
among the 57 student surveys conducted by LMI.
Note: Over the past several years LMI has given
300+ surveys to about eighty independent schools.
Each school's perceived value survey was unique, but
when the questions were the same, LMI was able to
compare our outcomes to theirs.
GEORGE SCHOOL PREPARES ALUMNI TO STAR IN THE REAL WORLD➤ GS provided me with well-rounded preparation
for life 4.5 (new high score for surveyed schools,
the average is 4.1). ★★
➤ GS prepared me well for living in a world
of socio-economic diversity 4.4 (new high score,
the average is 3.6). ★★
ALUMNI MATCH THE BEST OF THE BESTGeorge School scores matched the highest among the
many schools whose alumni completed LMI surveys.
➤ I found my time at school to be transformative
4.5. ★
➤ I felt encouraged to express my opinion 4.3. ★
➤ My school experience instilled in me a love
of learning 4.3. ★
Survey Results Worth Shouting About
In summer 2013, George School surveyed students, current parents, recent parents, and alumni
from the classes of 1992 to 2012 to get their feedback on how well the school prepares students for
college and for life in general. The survey—administered and tabulated by Lookout Management,
Inc. (LMI), a firm which specializes in conducting surveys for independent schools—produced
results that attested to the remarkable value of a George School education.
BY ODIE LEFEVER, ILLUSTRATIONS BY GARY CLEMENT
GEORGIAN | 23
FEATURES
MISSION STATEMENT RATINGS ARE OUT OF SIGHT Alumni, parents, students, faculty, and staff
applaud the school’s adherence to the nine
components of the mission statement with
an overall average of 4.2:
1. Quaker tradition as its touchstone,
2. academic excellence at its core,
3. development of citizen scholars,
4. openness in the pursuit of truth,
5. service and peace,
6. stewardship of the earth,
7. treasuring learning for its own sake,
8. using that learning to benefit a diverse world, and
9. letting their lives speak.
F INANCIAL A ID SOARS HIGHER THAN MOST SCHOOLS➤ 58.4% of GS respondents received financial aid.
That’s more than three times higher than the
18.5% average of other schools surveyed. ★★
➤ George School gets high praise from parents for
the availability of information about financial aid
during the admission process 4.2.
➤ Millions of dollars in need-based financial aid are
granted to almost half of the GS student body
each year.
ALUMNI PICK THE TOP SCHOOL L IFE ELEMENTS➤ Sense of Community 4.6.
➤ Acceptance of cultural differences 4.5. ★★
This 4.5 score was a new high score among measured
LMI schools.
ALUMNI ARE MOST GRATEFUL FOR GAINING THESE ATTRIBUTES AT GEORGE SCHOOL ➤ Compassion for the needs of others 4.6.
➤ Intellectual curiosity 4.6.
➤ Working independently 4.6.
➤ Leadership skills 4.3.
THE COLLEGE PROCESS➤ Alumni agree that they were intellectually well
matched to the college they selected 4.0.
➤ Alumni rated their satisfaction with their selected
college 3.9.
➤ Seniors rate their satisfaction with the college
they plan to attend 4.3.
ALUMNI ABSOLUTELY READY FOR COLLEGEAmong the other schools who asked about these skills
in their surveys, George School matched the best
of the best with these high scores.
➤ Creative thinking skills 4.5. ★
➤ Social skills 4.4. ★
➤ Working in a group 4.4. ★
➤ Critical thinking skills 4.4. ★
➤ Coping with peer pressure 4.3. ★
STUDENTS RATE THEIR PREPAREDNESS FOR COLLEGE➤ Working independently 4.3.
➤ Intellectual curiosity 4.2.
➤ Test taking strategies 3.5.
24 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
THE STRENGTH OF THE ATHLETICS PROGRAM➤ Student satisfaction with interscholastic athletics
rated 3.4.
➤ Parent satisfaction with interscholastic athletics
rated 3.8.
➤ Alumni satisfaction with interscholastic athletics
declined from a high of 4.3 in 1995 to 3.4 in 2012.
These scores confirm the importance of our
current emphasis, enhancing our athletics and
physical education program and building a new
100,000 square-foot fitness and athletics facility.
➤ 40.7% of alumni respondents reported partici-
pating in varsity or intramural athletics while at
college.
SOCIAL SERVICE➤ By the time students graduate they have com-
pleted an off-campus service project, volunteering
for at least 65 hours.
➤ By the time freshmen graduate they will have
served George School by providing about 130–
150 co-op hours, starting with shift in the kitchen
their first year and engaging in shift or other work
on campus each term thereafter.
➤ 80.7% of alumni have engaged in community
service since they graduated from college.
STUDENTS RATE TOP SCHOOL L IFE ELEMENTS➤ Relationship with and support from their
advisor 4.1.
➤ Arts facilities 4.0.
➤ Sense of community 3.9.
GEORGE SCHOOL PARENTS ARE ALMOST TWICE AS HAPPY AS OTHER PARENTS.➤ Parents evaluated the quality and accessibility
of communications with their child’s advisor,
teachers, the dean of students’ office, the head
of school, and the associate head of school.
➤ All of 10 communications ratings (100%)
achieved or exceeded the 4.0 threshold.
The average of other schools was 6 out of 10.
TRUSTED ADULTS➤ Alumni rated the presence of at least one adult
at GS to whom they could turn at 4.6 ★ (match-
ing the highest score among the other schools
surveyed).
➤ Students rated the presence of at least one
trusted adult they can talk to at 4.1 (a slightly
higher score than the average score of schools
surveyed).
This is good news because GS has always recognized
the critical relationship between adults and students.
Our consultant confirms its importance in cross
tabulations that reveal that those who report the
presence of at least one trusted adult at the school
report much greater overall satisfaction. They also
feel treated as individuals, more encouraged to speak
up and share their perspective, and more emotionally
safe while at the school. They also rate themselves as
more confident and better prepared for self-advocacy
and coping with peer pressure.
GEORGIAN | 25
FEATURES
ALUMNI RATE THEIR BOARDING EXPERIENCE➤ Overall boarding experience at 4.4.
➤ Relationships with other boarding students at 4.5.
➤ Caring dormitory staff at 4.3.
➤ Study time requirements at 4.3.
STUDENTS RATE THEIR BOARDING EXPERIENCE➤ Overall boarding experience at 3.9 (the average
of other schools is 3.6).
➤ Quality of relations with other boarding
students is high at 4.2 (the average of other
schools is 4.0).
➤ Caring residence staff at 4.0 (the average
of other schools is 3.7).
➤ Study time requirements at 3.8 (the average
of other schools is 3.4).
PARENTS GIVE HIGH SCORES TO BOARDING ELEMENTS➤ Overall boarding experience for my child 4.1.
➤ Quality of care my child receives from the
student health center 4.1.
➤ Assistance my child and I receive with travel
arrangements 4.1.
ALUMNI CONNECTION TO GS➤ 18.2% have been GS volunteers.
➤ 76.6% of those who have never volunteered at
George School expressed an interest in doing
so (332 yes or maybe).
➤ 69.2% reported they made a financial
contribution to GS.
➤ 88.6% expect to make a financial donation
in the near future.
THE HEART OF THE MATTER➤ 96% of graduates reported that GS faculty or
staff members had a strong and positive impact
on their lives.
➤ Graduates report that they are proud to say they
attended George School, with a high score of 4.7.
➤ Graduates reported that when they were students
they were treated as individuals with unique abili-
ties and needs, with a strong score of 4.4.
HIGHL IGHTS OF FACULTY RESPONSES➤ I feel free to be innovative in the classroom 4.6.
➤ I feel strongly that it is my duty to care for the
wellbeing of students beyond the classroom 4.5.
➤ I constantly look for better ways to do my job 4.4.
➤ I identify strongly with the school’s mission 4.4.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SURVEY AT WWW.GEORGESCHOOL .ORG/VALUEGo to georgeschool.org/value to read more
about the responses of alumni, students, parents,
faculty, and staff.
You can also view the list of schools whose survey
results provided comparative scores for questions
in common across measured schools.
We are grateful to the hundreds of students,
parents, alumni, faculty, and staff members who
completed these surveys. Their perspectives have
helped us provide a report card on past perfor-
mance, produce a baseline against which to
measure future progress, and inform our strategic
planning process that will begin in 2014.
26 | GEORGIAN
JANUARY 2014
We are launching a new feature called “Sweetheart Stories” and we can’t wait
to hear from you. Did your eyes meet across a crowded classroom? Was it love at
first sight? Maybe you found the love of your life at a reunion.
To share your sweetheart story and add a photo, just go to future.georgeschool.org,
and click the “Share Stories & Photos” tab on the far left of the home page to share
your own photograph and story in the George School Compendium.
It’s simple to do. If you have questions, call Tessa Bailey-Findley at 215.579.6572
for help.
Submit your George School sweetheart story and wedding photo to our website
Got Stories?
Cori and Scott met at George
School in 1987. They married
in June 2004. Cori wrote,
“We are beyond grateful for
the gift our parents gave us by
sending us to George School
and for the love and support we
got from the community
as students and that we still feel
as adults. George School is
a place filled with love, and
definitely where I found mine.”
Learn more about their story on
future.georgeschool.org.
Select Explore Stories & Photos
and 1990-1991.
GEORGIAN | 27
CAMPUS NEWS & NOTES
Campus News & NotesBY LAURA LAVALLEE AND SUSAN QUINN
Students Learn Ecology First HandTwo groups of students visited the
Stone Harbor Wetlands Institute in
Stone Harbor, New Jersey. With guid-
ance from the institute and George
School teachers Polly Lodge and
Michael Eareckson, they learned
about invasive species, food webs,
and migration as they performed
water analysis, soil comparisons,
and seining.
Queen Bee and Hive RescuedMembers of the George School
Beekeeping Club rescued a queen
bee and her hive from a damaged tree.
Club members cut the hive from the
tree, captured the queen, and relo-
cated the hive to the school’s apiary
located near the organic gardens.
This particular hive is interesting
because of its natural ability to
survive in the wild.
Athletic UpdateThree varsity boys’ soccer players,
Jay Koh ’14, Adian Greer ’14, and
Timofei Kharisov ’15 were named
to the Friends League All-Star Team
and participated in the Thanksgiving
Classic, dominating the game and
winning 6-0. Jerrica Bauer ’16 won
the George School Invitational in a
new course record time of 18:27:25.
Jerrica was also named to the second
all-state team for cross country,
a first for George School.
Three students were named top
hitters in baseball last spring. Luke
Haug ’16, George Long ’13, and Mike
McGinnis ’14 were all recognized for
their achievements at bat last season.
The varsity equestrian team also had
a successful season earning champion
and reserve champion titles at
Blessington Stables in Furlong, PA.
Several George School athletes were
also named all-league for the spring
2013 season. Twenty-one athletes
representing baseball, golf, boys’ and
girls’ lacrosse, softball, boys’ tennis,
and boys’ and girls’ track were hon-
ored by the Friends Schools League.
Updates Planned for Equestrian CenterConstruction on the new environmentally sustainable, state-of-the-art Fitness
and Athletics Center is well underway, and plans for the equestrian program
are being discussed in preparation for the next phase of improvements to the
fitness and athletics program at George School.
A committee—composed of faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and students
—compared eight potential plans for updates to south campus. Goals include
building an indoor riding ring with viewing area, team rooms, locker rooms,
and storage; converting the alternative energy center to be ADA accessible;
and improving the organic garden.
JANUARY 2014
28 | GEORGIAN
Students Think DifferentlyMore than 130 members of the sopho-
more class gathered in the Anderson
Library to present the results of
their individual Thinking Across
Disciplines (TAD) projects. Students
were asked to look back on two
assignments they had completed in
two distinct subject areas then com-
pare and contrast the ways of think-
ing and learning they had used in
the process of completing each of the
assignments. Inspiration for the proj-
ect grew from the curriculum review
the school recently completed, which
established the Foundational Skills
Committee. That group was charged
with ongoing curriculum review and
identifying ways of helping students
build critical thinking skills.
George School Eliminates Sale of Bottled Water Big changes occurred over the course
of the last year at George School,
where a decision was made to ban the
sale and distribution of bottled water
beginning fall 2013. TERRA, George
School’s chapter of the Sierra Student
Coalition—a broad network of high
school and college-aged youth from
across the country who work to pro-
tect the environment—successfully
urged the passing of an initiative
which will improve the quality and
availability of on-campus water foun-
tains and ban the sale and distribu-
tion of bottled water. The George
School Board of Trustees, students,
faculty, staff, and administrators were
all involved in helping to pass the
initiative.
Students Successful in Scholastic Art ContestMore than fifteen George School
Painting and Drawing students
received accolades from the regional
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards
competition. Their work was on
display at Gershman Hall at the
University of the Arts in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Among those honored
were Maggie Chen ’15 and Emily
Sohn ’14 who received Gold Key
awards for their work, the highest
recognition offered in the regional
competition. Many other students
received silver key awards and honor-
able mentions.
IB Chemistry Class Conducts Design Lab Students in Alyssa Schultheis’s IB
chemistry class used chromatography
to compare the types of dyes used in
various popular candies. Some stu-
dents were testing the color composi-
tion of two similar candies, and oth-
ers were testing which dyes were used
to create the color for one specific
candy. These experiments were one of
several design labs that the students
complete each term. “About once a
month we come in and do night labs
and design our own experiments,”
said Katie Ward ’14. This is the sec-
ond time students had completed a
lab using chromatography. In the first
lab, they separated a mixture of three
food dyes using two separate solvents.
Math Contest Winner Visits CampusIn the March 2013 Georgian, readers were asked if they could solve the math
problem posed by teacher Travis Ortogero to his class: “What is the remainder
when 20122012 is divided by 11?” The correct answer is “1.” James Michener ’61
was selected from among the individuals who submitted the correct answers to
receive a George School sweatshirt. Congratulation to all of our math geniuses.
GEORGIAN | 29
CAMPUS NEWS & NOTES
Pictured above are some of the photos submitted with class notes for earlier editions of the Georgian. With your help, we will transform the spring 2014 Georgian into a digital publication of awesome photographic proportions. Send us your pictures…weddings, babies, grand-babies, anniversaries, gatherings of George School friends. You name it. Just email your high resolution digital photographs to [email protected]. Add a caption that identifies the people and describes the event it captures. We are counting on you to make our next edition of the Georgian a photo-extravaganza (of modest Quaker size).
T H I S S P R I N G
Upcoming Georgian expands to add alumni photo galleries.
>> Lauralee Lightwood-Mater ’07 joined the Peace Corps in Paraguay where she is working closely with small-scale farmers to increase farm productivity and crop diversification.
>> Judith McIlvain Lewis ’64 cel-ebrated daughter Kim's wedding and her 40th wedding anniversary to her husband Donovan.
>> Jenny Sorel ’84 shared a photo of her son Dulio in a George School sweatshirt vacationing in Martha's Vineyard with several other George School alumni.
>> Stafford A. Woodley Jr. ’94, Jamil Brown ’95, RaShawn Woodley ’98, and Jaron Shipp ’98 traveled to Myrtle Beach SC for a mini reunion and a weekend of golf.
GOES ONLINETHE GEORGIAN