ECFREPORTER The Magazine of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Global Learning at ECFS: Incorporating multicultural perspectives and overseas experiences into the curriculum

Spring 2016

Becoming Globally Engaged Citizens One of the goals of ECFS's Strategic Plan is to “enrich our academic programs with attention to the global and multicultural dimensions of learning at all stages of development, through foreign language study, and travel programs that enable worldwide partnerships.”  To better prepare students to navigate both the opportunities and challenges inherent in our increasingly interconnected world, ECFS has expanded the boundaries of the classroom with global learning. By broadening their perspectives, our students and alumni have gained a deeper understanding of international issues and their responsibilities as global citizens.

F E AT U R E S

Contents

03 WORLD CLASS Three upper school teachers spent time abroad and discuss how the experience impacted their teaching

07 CLASSROOMS WITHOUT BORDERS How Ethical Culture developed a strong bond with its Kenyan “buddy school”

10 A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY, AN INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE Students and faculty journey to Hanoi, Vietnam

12 A GLOBAL GAP YEAR An experiential opportunity for Max Kauderer ’14

14 AN EXCHANGE YEAR AT ECFS From Madrid to Fieldston

D E P A R T M E N T S

02: 16: 17: 21: 22: 24: 28: 30: 34: 38: 40: 57: 60:

HEAD OF SCHOOL PERSPECTIVE DOUBLE TAKE ON CAMPUS NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL NEW LEADERSHIP ANNUAL BENEFIT OUR GIVING COMMUNITY CELEBRATING SERVICE TO ECFS GRADUATION 2015 ECFS ALUMNI CLASS NOTES IN MEMORIAM LIVING THE MISSION

Editorial Team: Maria Asteinza, Matthew Goldman, Meredith Halpern, Patty Nasey, Ruth Samuelson Photos: Chela Crinnion, Toby Himmel, Philip Kessler, Erica Lansner, Ruth Samuelson, Chris Taggart Design: White Communications Inc., Tuxedo, NY

Perspective

The AmericAn wriTer SuSAn SonTAg once wroTe, “i hAven’T been everywhere, buT iT iS on my liST.” SonTAg’S embrAce of The poSSibiliTieS ThAT TrAvel offerS reflecTS The SpiriT of our School’S commiTmenT To globAl educATion. like SonTAg, we believe in The power of TrAvel To TrAnSform our STudenTS And The world Around Them.

The school’s internationalism dates to its founding. Felix Adler addressed the needs of recent immigrants and was an internationalist himself—living, traveling, and studying abroad. He was a man of the world. Progressive education is inherently place-based and time-specific. What matters is our engagement with the world—learning from it and making it better. An educated person must be fluent in internationalism by speaking other languages and understanding other cultures. At ECFS global education is part of our ethical imperative that calls on all of us— teachers and students alike—to see the world from someone else’s vantage point. This is where growing, i.e. understanding, happens. One of the goals of our Strategic Plan is to “enrich our academic programs with attention to the global and multicultural dimensions of learning at all stages of development, through foreign language study, and travel programs that enable worldwide partnerships.” Global education and travel should not be mere tourism; they must entail service in action. By combining service learning with cultural immersion, our students come away from their adventures with a better understanding of another culture through firsthand experience.

Damian J. Fernandez, Ph.D. Head of School

During the past five years we have expanded the opportunities for international experiences by taking students to Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. Travel challenges us in ways that change perspectives and facilitate understanding of others. The encounter with difference is a key that unlocks insularity—intellectual and individual. Nothing changes us more than crossing a border. By bringing their global experiences back to ECFS through student-centered discussions, our students will foster global awareness and an appreciation for the arts and the environment that extend well beyond the classroom. Our goal is to inspire and empower them to be agents of change both in their local communities as well as in the international arena. As you read the following pages of the ECF Reporter, you will witness how our goal is being realized.

02 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

GLOBAL LEARNING

China

Mexico

ECFS Philippines

Feature

A tenet of Ethical Culture Fieldston’s Strategic Plan is to offer students multicultural learning experiences that

World Class: ECFS FACULTY WHO HAVE SPENT TIME ABROAD IMBUE THEIR TEACHING WITH A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

complement their studies at ECFS. To that end, the school has long encouraged and sponsored global-learning opportunities for middle and upper school students, mostly in the form of spring-break trips or summer programs outside the United States. Yet studying, conducting research, or teaching in another country benefits faculty members as well—intellectually, culturally, and professionally—and what they bring back to the Fieldston classroom enriches the learning experience for all. Three upper school teachers spent time abroad and discuss how the experience has impacted their teaching. read more

03 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016




GLOBAL LEARNING

Mexico Maura Furfey, Spanish Teacher in 2015, The nATionAl endowmenT for The humAniTieS (neh) AwArded SpAniSh TeAcher mAurA furfey A fellowShip To STudy meSoAmericAn culTure AT The Summer inSTiTuTe for School TeAcherS in oAxAcA.

colleagues who teach a range of age groups, from primary to high school, as well as a variety of subjects, including history and art—not just Spanish. I was able to step out of my Fieldston comfort zone and recalibrate my teaching,” said Furfey.

Competition for the four-week program was fierce, as only 30 applicants from across the United States, from a pool of 300, were accepted. The state of Oaxaca has a large Native American population—the number of people there who speak an indigenous language is proportionally the highest in Mexico—making it an ideal place to study Mesoamerican culture. The program focused on four areas of study—archaeology, ethnographic history, community arts, and documentary film—with an emphasis on indigenous struggles, particularly those of women, in the larger context of Mesoamerican cultural survival. Dr. Stephanie Wood of the University of Oregon, Furfey’s alma mater (she holds bachelor of arts degrees in Spanish and anthropology from the school), served as the program’s director. Furfey, who has taught Spanish at Fieldston for 15 years, summed up her Oaxacan experience in one word: rejuvenating. “For a mid-career teacher such as myself, it provided an opportunity to meet and learn from

The Summer Institute’s curriculum touched on many facets of Mesoamerican culture. A highlight of the archaeology unit was a visit to Monte Albán, a pre-Columbian dig site on the outskirts of Oaxaca. This area, inhabited successively over a period of 1,500 years by the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec, and other indigenous peoples, has yielded finds including pyramids, terraces, dams, and canals that were carved out of the mountainside. Pottery, weaving, and dance formed the focus of the community arts unit. Furfey and the other Summer Institute fellows attended the Guelaguetza festival, a celebration of traditional costume dances that takes place each summer in Oaxaca. On the more esoteric side, they learned how carmine, a red pigment used as a dye, is derived from the cochineal insect and how copal, an aromatic resin that has been burned as incense by Mesoamerican peoples since pre-Columbian times, is made from tree bark. Furfey likens the Summer Institute in Oaxaca to Fieldston’s City Semester program, an interdisciplinary course that she has team-taught since its inception, in which juniors and seniors conduct extensive fieldwork in New York City’s five boroughs. “Both

04 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

emphasize experiential, place-based learning, inviting students to step outside the confines of the traditional classroom,” she said. From Oaxaca, Furfey brought back to Fieldston new insights into Latin American history and art, which, in turn, have informed her teaching of Spanish. The Summer Institute required participants to submit a paper and give a presentation on an aspect of Mesoamerican culture, and Furfey elected to concentrate on amate paintings, traditional Zapotec and Mixtec works rendered in vivid colors on tree bark that tell a story and are replete with symbolism. She is now developing a curricular unit for one of her Spanish classes that examines amate paintings as codices. For the City Semester program, Furfey, who has an academic and personal interest in the cultural impacts of recently arrived immigrants in New York City, is considering having students meet with Mexican or Central American families who continue to speak their native language, such as Nahuatl. Furfey timed her Mexican sojourn perfectly, as the NEH is no longer offering grants to educators for international study, making her part of the last group of American teachers to have been awarded fellowships to attend the Summer Institute in Oaxaca. “I’m deeply grateful to have had this opportunity,” she said. “It was an eyeopening experience. The program was tailored to me: intensive and academically engaging. I’m still filtering all that I learned.”

Philippines Gina Apostol, English Teacher engliSh TeAcher ginA ApoSTol iS The AuThor of Three novelS—including Gun Dealers’ DauGhter, winner of The pen open book AwArd. She recenTly finiShed her fourTh book, the unintenDeD, And iS working on William mcKinley’s WorlD. boTh Are SeT during The philippine-AmericAn wAr (1899-1902), which broke ouT ShorTly AfTer The uniTed STATeS Annexed The philippineS in The AfTermATh of The SpAniSh-AmericAn wAr.

“Filipinos don’t talk about this war,” acknowledged Apostol, who was born and raised in the Philippines and received her master’s degree from Johns Hopkins, “nor does the United States, for that matter. It is hidden from me and other AsianAmericans, even in a school like Fieldston. In the Philippine-American War, the voice of the Filipino is silent.” To bring that voice to life in her latest novels, Apostol pored over dozens of stereograph cards, three-dimensional images that are among the primary sources related to the Philippine-American War in the holdings of the Library of Congress. Her research also took her to Samar, an island in the central Philippines, where she spent several weeks in the summer of 2014. The town of Balangiga, on the southern coast of the island, was the site of a brutal massacre in 1901 and subsequent retaliation involving Filipino nationalists and U.S. soldiers. At Fieldston, Apostol teaches a section of freshman-year English III—in which she highlights works by Sophocles, Aristotle, and V.S. Naipaul, among others—as well as electives in world literature and the short story. In the fall semester, she taught an independent study in Asian-American literature to a student of Korean descent who felt there was a void in this area in her regular English classes. The research Apostol conducted abroad for her latest novels has seeped into her

05 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

Fieldston courses. For example, she interjects the history of empire into her world literature classes. In particular, the time she spent in Samar has had a notable, if not necessarily anticipated, effect. As one of the areas most adversely affected by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, Samar has been a ground zero of sorts for climate disaster. Apostol was in the affected zone the following summer and witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by that cyclone, one of the most powerful in recorded history. The experience, she said, has given her new insight into the writings of Henry David Thoreau and other nature writers. “In the end, it’s about presenting an international perspective and bringing the rest of the world into the classroom,” said Apostol. “Especially in a progressive school such as ours, students need to see how all the pieces of an issue fit together, including the missing ones.” Students don’t know what they don’t know, adds Apostol, who is uniquely positioned to fill in those gaps—whether in the classroom or through her novels—in order to arrive at a more potent reading of contemporary issues such as race, cultural imperialism, and immigration. “We need to make learning more holistic,” she emphasized.

GLOBAL LEARNING

China and Taiwan Gerald Blaney, History Teacher hiSTory TeAcher Jerry blAney firST TAughT AT fieldSTon in 2012—2013, when he wAS hired AS A one-yeAr mATerniTy-leAve replAcemenT for A colleAgue in The depArTmenT. he SpenT The following School yeAr in chinA, TeAching hiSTory AT ShAndong experimenTAl high School in The ciTy of JinAn, Some 225 mileS SouTheAST of beiJing. He taught in the school’s international program, which is essentially a bridge program for Chinese students who want to attend college in the United States. Students pursue an American-style high school curriculum, including A.P. courses, in an English-speaking environment. Blaney’s year in China was followed by another in Taiwan, where he taught at the Pacific American School in Hsinchu. Virtually all of his students were either Taiwanese or Americans and Canadians of Taiwanese origin whose parents worked at the local science research park. Blaney returned to Fieldston in September 2015, after a permanent full-time position opened up in the history department. As his first semester back on campus drew to a close, he reflected that his teaching stints in China and Taiwan have made him a more adaptable teacher. In a relatively short span of time he had to adjust, in quick succession, to two distinct educational systems that are, in turn, different from the American one. “Attitudes toward education are different in East Asia,” Blaney noted, “and that demands adaptation.

06 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

I understood this intellectually but not practically until living abroad.” His time abroad paid dividends in other ways. “Naturally, I understand East Asian history more,” he said. Spending considerable time in a part of the world where the Western narrative is not the primary one, Blaney came to recognize what frames historical discussions in China and Taiwan: “They have a different take on things, but it is an equally valid take. I now bring this into the classroom—that we shouldn’t assume that everyone attaches the same importance to what we in the West see as the defining moments of the past, or that they have the same ‘takeaways’ that we do. It’s difficult at times, but the challenge makes teaching and learning more interesting.” Blaney, who teaches Form III World History (a.k.a. “The West and the World”) and completed his Ph.D. at the London School of Economics and Political Science, focusing on modern Spanish history and politics, recently developed a proposal for an elective titled “Pacific Perspectives: Modern East Asian History.” It has been approved at the departmental level and is on track to be offered in the 2016-2017 school year. Blaney’s years in Asia have broadened his outlook. Last fall he told The Fieldston News: “Actively interacting with foreign cultures is something that all of us should do at least once in our lives. It allows us to begin to fully comprehend and appreciate other ways of being human. You will never be the same afterwards. I know that I am not.”

M U LT I C U LT U R A L E D U C A T I O N

Feature

CLASSROOMS without BORDERS

How Ethical Culture Developed a Strong Bond with Its Kenyan “Buddy School”

Kenya The Journey from eThicAl culTure fieldSTon School in new york ciTy To The lerATA primAry School in kenyA TAkeS Two dAyS. iT STArTS wiTh Two flighTS, followed by A nighT’S STAy in nAirobi, And endS wiTh A Six-hour cAr ride To An Arid norThern region where The SAmburu people nomAdicAlly herd cATTle, goATS, And cAmelS.

E

ight Ethical Culture faculty members embarked on this first trip during spring break 2013. The Lerata Primary School is a facility with 250 to 300 children, ages two through 18. The goal was to explore a “buddy relationship” between the two institutions. Both schools would need to decide whether it would be meaningful for them. Although Ethical Culture Principal Rob Cousins had spent time in the region at another school and thought it would be worthwhile, he wanted the faculty to make the decision. “That way, they’d be more invested in it,” he said. If the buddy relationship worked, it would be built around classroom projects and long distance communication between students—not visits. But ultimately, in keeping with the school’s ethical tradition, it would need to transcend day-to-day school moments, like assemblies, assignments, and service projects. It would be about something more significant and less tangible. “We often ask our kids what it is to live a successful life,” said Cousins. “My big aim was for our kids to understand that, while Lerata students may appear to live in a very different world, there are things that unite both sets of students. They can look beyond a picture. They can see there’s a totally different way of living a happy life that doesn’t look like the way that we live.” read more

07 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016




M U LT I C U LT U R A L E D U C A T I O N

Flash forward to 2016, and almost every student at Ethical Culture knows the name “Lerata.” Across the dining room walls, there are pictures of Lerata teachers and students. Most of the grades will work on projects connecting them to Kenyan students this year. Many projects have already occurred at least once before, like first graders creating beautiful felt quilts for students who board at Lerata. Some 20 teachers have visited the school over the course of four different trips, during spring breaks and the summer. No one has visited more than kindergarten teacher Betty Russell, who has gone on three trips and plans to go again this summer. From the beginning, Russell was personally thrilled to spend time in Kenya. “I remember at seven saying, ‘I’ve wanted to go to Africa my whole life,’” she said. Yet she was “very intrigued” whether it would be possible, developmentally, for EC’s youngest students to understand anything about life so far away.

“I came home from the first trip and said very clearly to people, ‘I think there’s value in this relationship,’” said Russell.

For the first trip, the teachers planned to mostly observe Lerata classes, building a rapport with the Kenyan teachers. The EC teachers worried about cultural misunderstandings, perhaps inadvertently offending the Kenyan teachers, or confusing students with activities that worked in the United States but not in such a different environment. Kenyan educational values are more testoriented and less playful than EC’s progressive, often games-oriented pedagogy. The teachers brought lesson plans, but weren’t sure if they’d use them. Very quickly, that “stand back” approach evolved.

One of those people was Nicole Sterling, an EC librarian who previously worked as a math specialist. Sterling has visited Lerata twice and plans to lead this summer’s trip. After her first visit, she was eager to collaborate again with Lerata’s teachers. Going back, she wanted to focus on planning lessons with various teachers from different disciplines. She got her wish when a group of EC and Lerata teachers created lessons on Greek mythology. “Even if people weren’t going to use them in their own classrooms, they wanted to be part of the decision making,” she said.

“That certainly was the plan, but it wasn’t the reality,” said Russell. One day, she was observing a PreK class “and 15 minutes in, someone cried, someone wet themselves, and someone else had pen ink explode in their mouth,” she said. The teacher was midway through a lesson on cows, and Betty jumped in and worked collaboratively to complete the lesson while he addressed individual students’ needs.

Back at Ethical Culture, the teachers share stories about Lerata while also subtly reinforcing the similarities between both populations. All the activities the teachers do abroad originate in their New York classrooms. When they’re doing these activities here, they show

08 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

photos of the Kenyan students engaged in the same lessons. “It creates this bond, where our students think, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re playing the same game that we played.’ So it creates this realization, ‘they’re in third grade, just like me,’” said Sterling. Sterling, like other teachers, believes that visiting Lerata has been one of the most enriching experiences of her career. “It was professional development for both sets of teachers. Teachers here at EC have learned to do more with less, to really think on our feet, to use the environment as our resource,” she said. Second grade teacher Erik Landgren, who has visited Lerata twice, echoed Sterling’s sentiments. “When you have to communicate why you do what you do to another group of teachers— specifically a group of teachers who are from a culture that’s very different from yours—it forces you to be clearer and improves your lessons here,” he said.

OPPOSITE PAGE, FAR LEFT librarian nicole Sterling shares books from ethical culture with students. OPPOSITE PAGE, CENTER Second-grade teacher erik landgren teaches to a captive audience. LEFT leonard white, social studies workshop teacher, builds with lerata students.

ECFS is dedicated to forming partnerships with schools and institutions abroad The trips also bonded the EC teachers in unexpected ways. “When you’re with your colleagues in the middle of the desert in tents for 10 days, you’re really relying on each other. It brings you together as a group in a way that you wouldn’t experience at some conference, staying at a Westin,” said Landgren. This summer, six teachers will travel to Kenya for the fifth Lerata trip. While the relationship is still young, it’s a prime example of the school’s broad effort to expand global learning. As the school’s Strategic Plan outlined, ECFS is dedicated to forming partnerships with schools and institutions abroad and expanding multicultural education both on campus and through new international trips. Each Fieldston student is now encouraged to attend a trip abroad in both the middle and upper schools. Equally important are the ethical learning opportunities created through the Lerata bond. Last year, fifth graders focused their grade-wide service-learning project on Lerata’s scarce water

and expanding multicultural education.

supply, raising money for the town and walking through Central Park with gallons of water to create awareness of the issue.

look on a student’s face—a student who’s a bit mischievous and clever. “They know which kid in their class is the one who’s like that too,” she said. These moments reinforce that people are people, whether they live in rural Kenya or an American metropolis.

In her class, Betty Russell often uses picture books to form connections between EC students and their Lerata counterparts. Created by Ethical Culture teachers and Lerata students, the books show the Kenyan students and teachers, or local animals and vegetation. Similarly, the EC kids made their own picture books, which teachers brought over on subsequent trips. The experience allows the students to introduce themselves and their worlds—and while it illuminates their differences, it also drives home their similarities. Some EC students also have recorded audiobooks for Lerata students, who grow up speaking Samburu and Kiswahili and learn English in school.

But of course, it’s also fun to consider the differences—and the total paradigm shifts that certain environments require. At Lerata, “horizontal space is seemingly endless,” said Russell, so kids have trouble grasping ‘Why would you have a vertical school?’ Then we tell them our playground is on the roof. They think we’re lying.” Teachers explained to the EC students that at Lerata the library is a special space on campus. Many people take off their shoes to enter. “It’s a place of honor,” said Sterling. “It’s important to consider what other people value.”

A book will show “this isn’t a nameless group of kids. This is Miss Nelly’s class—and these are the kids in Miss Nelly’s class,” said Russell. Or, she’ll point out the

“People often talk about Africa as this amorphous continent. It’s

09 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

unknown in a way that Europe or South America isn’t. Then, through this relationship, you meet EC students who feel like they have friends there. They’re not anonymous people. That’s very empowering,” said Cousins. “When I speak to Ethical Culture alumni, they talk about experiences that had a direct bearing on the career they chose, or how they chose to live their life or spend their disposable income or free time,” said Cousins. “There will be children who, because of their experience of learning about Lerata, will be influenced in some way, whether that means that they volunteer for Doctors Without Borders or financially support a school like Lerata. It’s exciting to imagine the possibilities.”

LESSONS LEARNED IN AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Feature

on mArch 13, 2015, eighT fieldSTon STudenTS And fAculTy memberS dr. Jennifer TAmmi And dr. nAncy bAnkS SeT off on A Journey To hAnoi.

Vietnam

A Unique Opportunity. An Invaluable Experience. by Greg Pizzurro ’17 The trip was fully scheduled with dozens of activities by the student-travel company ACIS. Dr. Tammi, a history teacher whose specialty is American history, brought the Vietnam trip to life at Fieldston almost a year before the trip itself got under way. Dr. Tammi thought that a high school Vietnam trip could be an invaluable experience, especially for students studying the Vietnam War in their history classes. The trip lasted 10 days and consisted of three sections: three days in the north, three days in central Vietnam, and three days in the south. After two grueling flights—one 15-hour flight to Seoul and one six-hour flight to Hanoi—we were immediately transported to a world vastly different from the one we were used to. The streets in Hanoi were filled with thousands of mopeds with multiple people riding each one. We were told that these mopeds are the primary form of transportation for most Vietnamese citizens who live in cities. Our time in Hanoi was spent touring the city, visiting museums, sightseeing, watching a traditional water-puppet show, and much more. One of the most interesting expeditions in Hanoi was our visit to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, where the Communist leader’s body was on display for all who paid to see it. We were briskly rushed through the mausoleum by the Vietnamese guards (who would occasionally pull us by the shoulder to ensure we were moving fast enough), and there were even some women crying while mourning their hero’s death. While in Hanoi, we visited the Hoa Lo Prison (nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by Americans imprisoned there), where many American soldiers (including John McCain) spent time during the Vietnam War. The prison has since been turned into a museum filled with relics and information about the brutal lives of the prisoners who lived there. After a day spent on a Vietnamese junk (small cruise ship) in Ha Long Bay, we left for the former imperial capital of Hue in central Vietnam. We visited beautiful gardens and temples before visiting the Imperial City, a walled fortress/palace where the former emperors of Vietnam resided. Hue was attacked by Allied forces in 1968 and some of the damage is still visible today. The next day we ventured to Hoi An, a beautiful town in central Vietnam full of shops selling Vietnamese crafts. We were given some time to explore Hoi An by ourselves, and at night the town was lit by beautiful lanterns which added to the already historic feel. Hoi An is home to a very old Japanese covered bridge, the most famous feature of the town.

10 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

BELOW (l-r) Jared bowser ‘16, dr. nancy banks, dr. Jen Tammi, gillian gore ‘17, ned wang ‘16, maya dixon ‘18,

kristof denis ‘16, Sage meadows ‘16, daniel Sorkin ‘17, and greg pizzurro ‘17 visited ho chi minh’s mausoleum in hanoi.

The rest of our trip was spent in the south, specifically in Ho Chi Minh City, where we visited the War Remnants Museum containing rooms showing some of the horrors that occurred during the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War, and the lasting impacts of certain materials used by the Americans during the Vietnam War, namely Agent Orange and napalm. One day while staying in Ho Chi Minh City, we ventured to the suburb of Cu Chi where we got to explore the Cu Chi Tunnels, a series of underground passageways used by the Viet Cong to travel and even live in without the knowledge of American forces. In order to fit in the tunnel, you have to crawl on your hands and knees and as we progressively descended into the ground, some of us were feeling too claustrophobic and had to use the emergency exits! We left Ho Chi Minh City a few days later after a dinner on a cruise around the city and a day to explore the city ourselves.

It was truly amazing to see the impact of a time we students are learning about in our classes.

I am reminded of the amazing trip every time I am in my elective course “U.S. Since 1940.” As I glance up at the propaganda posters in Vietnamese featuring pictures of Ho Chi Minh and Nixon, which we bought in a shop in Hanoi, and which Dr. Banks and Dr. Tammi later hung in some history classrooms at the school, I feel as if have a new perspective on the Vietnam War and the Vietnamese people after visiting their beautiful country and hearing all their amazing stories. This trip was one continuous cultural tour of a society heavily influenced by the United States, and it was remarkable to see the impact of a time we students are learning about in our classes: a unique opportunity one rarely gets to experience.

11 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

AN EXPERIENTIAL YEAR

Feature

AfTer grAduATion from fieldSTon, mAx kAuderer Took A yeAr off from School To focuS on A SubJecT cloSe To hiS heArT: environmenTAl conServATion. during ThAT Time, he TrAveled To peru, Sri lAnkA, And nepAl To STudy hAbiTAT deSTrucTion And endAngered wildlife. he begAn hiS freShmAn yeAr AT hAverford college ThiS fAll.

MAX KAUDERER ‘14

A GLOBAL GAP YEAR 12 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

BELOW TOP max receives a blessing from a buddhist monk in nepal.

BELOW CENTER The elephant orphanage in Sri lanka

BELOW BOTTOM The monastery where max taught in nepal

.

What impacted me the most

Sri Lanka | Peru | Nepal Colorful prayer flags blew peacefully in the wind around me, their gentle whistling interrupted only by the songs of birds and the whispering of Buddhist worshipers who, like me, had made the pilgrimage to Sri Pada, a holy mountain in Sri Lanka where Buddha is believed to have ascended from Earth thousands of years ago. Each year, more than 20,000 people make this arduous journey, which involves hiking many miles through dense forests and climbing thousands of steps up steep cliffs in frigid temperatures. The small, golden temple at the summit is a marvel that very few Westerners ever get a chance to see, and standing there among hundreds of locals was truly a remarkable experience. But to me, it was the trek up that was most extraordinary, in large part because of the fascinating people I met along the way. This continued to be a common theme throughout my travels; what impacted me most were the people I met and their unique stories. I was in Sri Lanka as part of my gap year, a year between graduating from Fieldston and starting college during which I focused on global learning. From the time I entered 10th grade at Fieldston, I was intrigued by the idea of spending a year taking a totally different approach to education. I’ve always been interested in the environment, particularly in conservation, so I chose to focus my gap year on that. I spent the fall in Peru, where I lived with a local family for a month and significantly improved my Spanish. I then spent time in the Amazon rainforest studying and documenting native wildlife, and learning about deforestation and habitat destruction. In the spring, I traveled to Asia. In Sri Lanka, I volunteered at an elephant orphanage that takes in sick and injured elephants that would not survive in the wild, and provides them with a safe home. Helping elephants is a cause that has been important to me for some time. While at Fieldston, my brother, Josh, and I founded a nonprofit organization, Elephant Highway, to stop the ivory trade that causes the slaughter of thousands of African elephants every year. However, while I had worked with African elephants in the past, I knew little about the dangers facing Asian elephants before working at the orphanage. Having the opportunity to work closely with these exceptional animals reaffirmed my commitment to protecting them. The final stop on my gap year journey was Nepal. While there, I lived in a Buddhist monastery and earned my room and board by teaching English and math to local children. But the child who impacted me most was not a student at the monastery. Tenzin was a 12-year-old boy who spent his days and evenings working in his father’s small restaurant in a village outside Pokhara. Tenzin was talented in math and was able to add each customer’s check in his head, manage all of the restaurant’s cash flow, and keep track of inventory, among other tasks. Equally impressive, Tenzin had taught himself four languages, including English, and was able to converse in all of them. When I asked Tenzin if he would be interested in going to school, he replied that he could not leave his home because without him his father would be unable to run the restaurant, and if the restaurant failed, his family would starve. My gap year gave me the chance to see incredible places and to appreciate the importance of preserving those places for future generations. More importantly, it gave me the chance to interact with some exceptional people and to appreciate the outstanding educational and experiential opportunities that I have been given.

13 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

were the people I met and their unique stories.

C U LT U R A L E X C H A N G E

Feature

pAblo rocAmorA lAbAT, who wAS born And rAiSed in mAdrid, iS Spending hiS Junior yeAr AbroAd ATTending fieldSTon And living wiTh A fieldSTon fAmily in riverdAle.

Exchange Student at Fieldston Discusses His American Experience New York | Spain I’m only midway through my year studying abroad, and I can already tell you: Fieldston has changed me. Since I was five years old, I’ve attended the same school. It’s a very conventional Spanish school. My parents pay part of the tuition, and the government subsidizes the rest. Each graduating class includes roughly 80 students. Some are my best friends. They are like siblings to me, except that I chose to make them my family. We’ve grown up together. That brings me to the main way Fieldston has affected me. I’ve always considered myself “academically intelligent” and less “emotionally intelligent.” My Spanish school—and its structure— has not pushed me to change. My peers have remained largely

14 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

unchanged since I started attending school. Also, in the Spanish educational model, students study with the same group in the same classroom all day, as different instructors cycle in and out teaching their subjects. We are extremely tight-knit. Of course, if I wanted to make friends in the U.S., I had to adapt—no choice there. So I had to move past the fact that I’m less confident speaking in English than in Spanish. I had to push myself to be more outgoing and comfortable in big groups. Thankfully, Fieldston has given me many opportunities to meet new people. Not only am I moving around all day—bouncing from class to class—I have joined the Robotics Club, squash team, and soccer team as well.

I never realized how much this whole experience would affect me. It is making me a much better person: more mature, more social, and wiser.

Through my classes and these activities, I have made some good friends. I have learned new ways of approaching people, and every time I start to build relationships, I gain confidence.

The culture here is more open-minded. The Thursday assemblies have been wonderful. I’ve particularly enjoyed the ones on solitary confinement and poetry, and when the cast of the fall drama performed parts of their play.

I’m fortunate that I love where I’ve landed. I love Fieldston. I love the fact that students are trusted and are given the freedom to structure their own time. I can go to the library, leave campus, and hang out in the Student Commons whenever I want. I appreciate that Fieldston teachers are much more available and willing to meet with students outside of regular class hours. That doesn’t happen in Spain. The school is also far more technologically advanced than the environment I’m used to. In Spain, we still take all our notes on paper, instead of being able to bring laptops with us.

Finally, I deeply appreciate the approach to the arts here. My mother works in an art gallery, organizing exhibitions and selling paintings. I grew up learning about art and visiting museums. I’ve always loved drawing and painting. But the classes in my school are very rigid—like for an assignment, we’ll draw a chair. We’re not taught technique or provided a wide range of media and materials. My Fieldston art teacher, Stefanie Smith, allows us to use watercolor, charcoal, acrylic, collage, ink, canvas, and paper. The facilities are better. Here, art is clearly valued—it encompasses a

15 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

number of different subjects, whereas in my Spanish school, “art” is pretty much only painting and drawing or playing an instrument (and that stops in the middle school). I never realized how much this year would affect me. It is making me a much better person: more mature, more social, and wiser. It is very hard and I am learning both from the struggles and the positive experiences. I hope my time abroad might inspire someone to do something similar. But that’s not what’s most important to me. What’s critical is understanding Fieldston’s tremendous impact on me, and recognizing it as one of the most important experiences of my life.

DOUBLE TAKE ecF reporter ASkS An AlumnuS And A currenT STudenT A SerieS of queSTionS on common inTereSTS And ShAred pASSionS.

MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN ’92

michael Weissenstein is the associated press bureau chief in havana. he was a correspondent in mexico city, reporting throughout latin america and helping to coordinate coverage of mexico and central america. a graduate of carleton college, michael worked as an editor in the ap’s new york and london offices and as a reporter in ap’s new york city bureau, covering criminal justice and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

What is your fondest memory of ECFS?

What news article are you most proud of?

MW: This isn't the best response for the school magazine, but I would say laughing uncontrollably in class with my friend Justin Sher in sophomore or junior year, and trying to hide it from the teacher. I am still close friends with a group of guys that went from kindergarten at Ethical to senior year at Fieldston together, and they are undoubtedly the source of all my best memories.

MW: I haven't read it in years, but when I was a police reporter in Texas I wrote a story about the life of a 14-year-old homicide victim whose killing hadn't gotten much attention. I'm sure it wasn't very good, technically, but I remember the feeling of bringing readers' attention to something that merited it, and that has stuck with me.

KG: One of my earliest memories was an apple-picking field trip I took in kindergarten at Fieldston Lower. This was nearly 11 years ago, but I still have such a vivid memory of standing with the rest of my class looking at crates and crates of freshly picked apples getting stacked up for storage. I remember each of us getting to pick an apple right off the tree, which we were then allowed to eat. I am convinced that no other apple has ever tasted that good.

KG: One of the articles I wrote this summer was about a recently uncovered mosaic near Bryant Park. My editor wanted to cover the mosaic because of speculation that a Bronx artisan might have worked on the project. At first, I had a lot of trouble finding the Bronx connection in this story. Digging deeper, I found that there were a lot of intriguing connections to Riverdale artisans, and I was even able to speak to somebody who knew the artist personally.

What made you decide to pursue a career in journalism?

What fictional representation of a newsroom comes closest to real life for you?

MW: My father was friends with several accomplished journalists, and I think I realized early on that it's a job that pays you to talk to people about interesting things and then tell other people about it. Luckily that turned out to be true. KG: I haven’t completely decided what I want to do yet, but right now I am really interested in journalism as a career. I think it is so important to be informed and knowledgeable about what is going on in the world, and the news helps people achieve that. I love talking to people, hearing new perspectives, and learning about new things, and I also love to write. Journalism seems like such a worthwhile and exciting intersection of all these things, with the capacity to truly impact society in a positive way.

What keeps you awake at night? KEERTI GOPAL ’17

MW: Thinking about all the things happening on my beat that I can't report about yet because I don't have them confirmed and on the record. And thinking about how to get them confirmed. KG: The future. Thinking about what comes next is really exciting, but also very scary. I have gone to Fieldston since I was in kindergarten, and now that the prospect of leaving is becoming closer to reality, it is definitely on my mind. What was the most exciting interview you've conducted? MW: The one I'm going to conduct today at 10:30 a.m. out in far eastern Havana. The great thing about this job is that there's always something new to get excited about.

a staff writer for The fieldston news, Keerti Gopal is a 17-year-old junior who loves journalism, music, theater, and reading books. she has been at ecFs since kindergarten, and currently is spending the semester at the mountain school in Vermont.

KG: This summer I interned at The Riverdale Review. For one article, I profiled the captain of the 50th NYPD precinct. I interviewed him at the precinct, and it was an exciting experience. I was pretty nervous before the interview. I was afraid my questions wouldn’t be interesting, or that he wouldn’t take me seriously. The interview ended up being a huge success, and the captain was really easy to talk to! We talked about many important issues, like community policing, the Black Lives Matter movement, body cameras, and criminal justice policy. I learned a lot about the NYPD.

16 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

MW: Hmm. Even the best ones sort of make you cringe. All the

President's Men is hardly realistic, but I think it captures the excitement of chasing the big, difficult story. KG: I haven’t encountered any fictional representations of a newsroom that are very similar to the newsrooms I have experienced in real life. For The Fieldston News, we have one formal meeting a week, when we get our article assignments. The rest of the writing process is largely individual, and although we talk to the editors and the other writers, most of the experience is outside of the club. The newspaper I worked on this summer was also a very independent experience. The editor was the only person I really interacted with throughout the summer. Both of these publications leave a lot of freedom for writers to pursue stories and create pieces on their own, which is something I have really enjoyed.

What journalist(s) do you admire and why? MW: Since I'm so highly focused on Cuba right now, I'll mention

two whose pieces on Cuba I never miss. Jon Lee Anderson has been coming to Cuba for decades and understands the place in ways we newcomers can only aspire to. My friend Nick Miroff, the Washington Post correspondent in Cuba, also has a deep and subtle understanding of the country. I almost always find something in his stories that I didn't know beforehand. There's been so much written about Cuba in the last year by people coming for the first time that it's a pleasure to read stories by people who really know the country. Although not so much of a pleasure when they write a story that you missed! KG: Nellie Bly is such an inspirational figure. The way she threw herself into investigative journalism with honesty and fearlessness makes her an icon to aspire to, and the way she opened doors for women in journalism was incredibly important. I enjoy reading Gail Collins’ op-eds. Her pieces are always so much fun to read, and still incredibly informative. I want to be able to write like that: in a way that both keeps people engaged and gives them important information.

ON CAMPUS MIDDLE SCHOOL

Africans in the Diaspora Club Introduces Students to the Diversity of African Cultures

“S

alaam alaikum,” said Rama Ndiaye upon greeting members of the Africans in the Diaspora club on a recent Monday. “Wa-Alaikum-us-Salaam,” responded the group of middle schoolers, answering the traditional Muslim expression that means “peace be upon you.” The weekly club is led by Ndiaye, who was born in Senegal and is the assistant to the principal and Spanish coordinator at Fieldston Lower. Mariama Richards, the director of progressive and multicultural education, also leads the club. Its mission is to “dismantle stereotypes and develop an appreciation for Africa’s diverse people, histories, colors, languages, and culture.” “[The club] is helping us look into new cultures other than our own. It’s

helping us see how people live across the world,” said Skyy Johnson ’22. The students have learned various aspects of African history, such as the Berlin Conference, when European countries—and no indigenous leaders—gathered to regulate trade and colonization throughout the continent. They spend a portion of each meeting checking in with each other—or as Lee-Alexander Carter ’22 said, “Mariama asks each of us what we’re learning, what’s coming up in our life, and other things that have been happening to us outside of school.” “This club is kind of like a community,” said Timia McCoade ’22. “We’re all helping each other in so many different aspects. We’re hearing about each others’ lives: sixth graders have a window into seventh and eighth graders’ lives.”

The club, which is open to all middle schoolers, launched last year and included a trip to Ghana. This year, the students will head to Senegal for nine days. Prior to both trips, ECFS students connected with pen pals in local schools.

The trip itinerary includes visiting their pen pals’ school in Dakar; Gorée Island, a slave trading center that operated from the 15th to 19th century; a village outside of Dakar; and Lake Retba, which is known for its pink waters, caused by algae.

Preparing for their trip, the students studied Senegalese history and the local culture. More than 90 percent of the country is Muslim—hence the traditional Arabic greeting they practiced. Ndiaye also taught the students words and phrases in Wolof, one of the recognized local languages.

“This trip is an opportunity to plant our feet in spaces where the history we’ve been discussing has actually occurred,” said Richards. “We’ve thought about this trip in the context of being survivors—and what it means to be part of that heritage and come from that place.”

“The kids have been extremely interested in the language,” said Ndiaye. “Some study the words and come back and try to impress me. It’s an amazing step. They’re excited to use the language to communicate with their pen pals.”

17 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

ON CAMPUS

FIELDSTON LOWER

Fieldston Lower Triples Spanish Instruction Time Through Immersive Classroom Language Lessons

H

ay que practicar! As anyone who has studied a foreign language knows, improvement comes with practice, practice, practice. With that approach in mind, Fieldston Lower’s Spanish program is increasing its instruction of the language to 90 minutes—up from 30 minutes—per week. Spanish program coordinator Rama Ndiaye, who speaks four languages fluently, has been overseeing this expansion, which began in 2013.

Monica and Cristina have innovated their curriculum, introducing puppets that have been a big hit among the children. Cristina has expanded the vocabulary resources, audio clips for listening comprehension, and educational apps on her website. This year, she has been teaching fifth graders through an educational concept called "flipped classroom." Students familiarize themselves with new vocabulary at home using videos, flash cards, interactive games, and animations, and come to class ready to practice what they have learned. “We are really looking forward to the expansion reaching all the grades and ensuring that our students graduate with higher proficiency in Spanish,” said Ndiaye. “It’s always satisfying to see the children grow and love the language more and more.”

“Coming from Europe and an educational system with a lot of language instruction, I knew our students would need more than 30 minutes a week to get on the path toward Spanish proficiency,” said Ndiaye, who holds a master’s degree in education and leadership from Ohio State University. With the support of world language coordinator Cécile Droz, whose role is to ensure the cohesiveness of the PreK-12 program, Fieldston Lower began increasing instruction in kindergarten and first grade a few years ago. Since then, it has moved into second and third grade classes, as those initial students have progressed through the school. Students learn Spanish in designated language classes with teachers (and sisters) Monica Mella and Cristina Mella. The lessons are also practiced throughout the day. “Our classroom teachers have very full curricula, but they have been extremely collaborative when it comes to integrating lesson plans and finding time for Spanish immersion,” said Ndiaye.

ABOVE The Spanish team at fieldston lower (l-r): monica mella, rama ndiaye, and cristina mella

UPPER SCHOOL

Computer Problems? Head to the Student-Run “Restart Center”

A

new resource is now available to Fieldston students looking to replace failing computer parts, troubleshoot software, or fix glitches. Student volunteers, who receive community service credit for their work, are manning

“Restart Centers” on campus, helping students diagnose their computers’ problems and guide them toward buying new parts and learning how to make repairs. “The Restart Center is a great opportunity for students to become acquainted with the computer parts they use,” said Daniel Levi-Minzi ’17, Fieldston Student Government’s secretary of technology, who helps run the Restart Centers with Upper School technology integrator Kenny Graves.

The project was inspired by last spring’s “Restart Party,” an event designed to teach students how to replace broken screens, keyboards, and trackpads. The event coincided with the school's Earth Day Festival. Sustainability is at the center of both “Restart” initiatives. They encourage students to improve their current technology, rather than discard and replace their devices. “We spend thousands of dollars on technology,” said Graves. “This is a

18 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

way to teach students that they don’t always need to go to Apple. It will cut costs and remind people how our waste is affecting our environment—and we're always looking for new opportunities to incorporate technology into the educational experience here.” The “Restart” concept originates from the The Restart Project, a London-based organization. ECFS’s director of technology, Jeannie Crowley, has forged a relationship with the nonprofit, sharing and

ETHICAL CULTURE

Students Learn “Mindset” Strategies for Confronting Challenges

A

“Instead of I’m not good at this,” the poster reads, “Try thinking ‘What am I missing?’” and “I’ll use some of the strategies I’ve learned” and “This may take some time and effort.”

common theme reverberated through the classrooms on the top floor of Ethical Culture this fall. Third, fourth, and fifth graders were learning “mindset” strategies to coach themselves through challenging questions and wrong answers.

Teachers took their cues from Carol Dweck, a Stanford-based researcher who has written extensively on “fixed mindset” and “growth mindset.” Assistant Principal Faith Hunter embraced Dweck’s research and approach, and this fall, has been encouraging it among the EC teachers.

In fourth grade teacher Liba Bronstein-Schwartz’s room, students have created “mindset mantras” like, “If you don’t make mistakes, you can’t learn.”

“Dweck looked at success and how children grapple with challenge,” said Hunter. “Some kids are presented with a challenge and salivate with excitement to work on it; some kids shut down. We want to promote strategies that motivate kids not to give up.”

These mindset discussions have affected the way teachers speak to their students, too, said Hunter.

The “fixed mindset” is one in which students believe “that intelligence is a static trait: some students are smart and some are not,” Dweck wrote. In contrast, students with a “growth mindset” think that “intelligence can be developed by various means—for example, through effort and instruction,” Dweck said.

“They’re acknowledging and complimenting students’ approach and effort to reinforce the idea that results are achieved through deliberate work and practice,” she added. “They’re saying things like, ‘I noticed that you tried three different strategies to get that answer.’ They’re supporting effort—so students become strategic, reflective, and flexible to take risks.”

In many classrooms at Ethical Culture, growth mindset tips are written on the wall. In third-grade teacher Louise Mattingly’s class, a poster reads, “What can I say to myself?”

receiving guidance from Restart on various projects. The organization is interested in learning from Fieldston’s Restart Centers and possibly replicating the model in other schools. As of January, there were eight students volunteering for the Restart Centers, and an IT department staff member was present for every “client” session to assist, if needed. Computer parts for repairs at the Restart Centers have been underwritten through the

generosity of the Feingold Family Fund. As the Restart Centers' staff grows, Levi-Minzi hopes to branch out into working in local community organizations too. “I hope people discover they have a knack for this kind of work,” said Levi-Minzi.

RIGHT Students salvage and repair their peers’ phones and laptops at the fieldston upper restart center.

19 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

ON CAMPUS

FIELDSTON LOWER

Field of Dreams ust in time for the opening pitch, the Fieldston Lower Field is ready for play. After months of planning, consulting, designing, and fundraising, the Fieldston community has a state-of-the-art field that can be used rain or shine and through the winter months for recess, sports practices, and athletic competition.

J

Thanks to the support of 54 donors, $1,520,449 was raised to fund this renovation. Recognizing last spring that the field needed to be renovated, a working group, headed by Athletic Director Gus Ornstein ’94 and Green Dean Howie Waldman, convened to determine what actions were needed to develop a playing surface that would benefit all ECFS students and be in line with the environmental principles of the school. The group consulted with a Cornell University Agriculture and Life Sciences professor who assessed the school’s alternatives and recommended that the best option for economic and ecological sustainability would be to install artificial turf. Artificial turf provides a consistent playing surface and the sustainability that is necessary to support the heavy usage of the Lower Field across the three divisions. TPE, a non-carcinogenic and non-toxic virgin rubber, was used for the infill, which will make the field much cooler in hot weather than darker crumb-rubber infills. To celebrate the opening of the field and to thank all those members of the community who worked tirelessly to ensure that all interests were considered, ECFS hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 5 for the community.

20 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH

The ecfS boArd of TruSTeeS And The heAd of School SeArch commiTTee hAve Announced The AppoinTmenT of JeSSicA bAgby AS ecfS’S new heAd of School, beginning July 1.

ecfS welcomes

new head of School jESSICA BAGBY

B

agby comes to ECFS from the Trinity School, where she is the assistant head of school and principal of the upper school. Before joining Trinity, Bagby spent 21 years at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, working in both administration and teaching. She has taught English, served as head of the English department, dean and upper school head. A graduate of Northwestern University, Bagby earned her master’s in education administration from Columbia University’s Teachers College. “I am among the lucky souls who has spent a lifetime doing work I feel called to do—furthering children and championing teachers. I am over the moon with

21 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

excitement about joining a community with which I share profound values consonance. I am eager to immerse myself in the school and get to know faculty, students, and parents,” said Bagby. The search committee, chaired by board member Robert Pruzan ’81, consisted of ECFS alumni, trustees, parents, teachers, and administrators. The committee conducted an extensive national search and reviewed more than 40 prospective applicants. According to Pruzan, the “goal from the beginning was to find the best possible leader who could further the momentum of our strategic plan and further forge the bonds of community—someone who had deep and rich educational experiences in independent schools as well as palpable passion for collaborating with teachers and mentoring students of conscience.”

NEW LEADERSHIP

q&A with

new ecfS board chair CARYN SEIDMAN-BECKER Caryn Seidman-Becker is the chairman and CEO of CLEAR, an airport security clearance company she co-founded. She is responsible for setting CLEAR’s overall direction and vision as it becomes the most trusted secure-identity platform. Before CLEAR, Seidman-Becker spent 17 years in asset management, founding and building Arience Capital into a $1.5 billion firm. She also launched the Arience Foundation, the firm’s philanthropic arm. Seidman-Becker also co-founded the Happy Elephant Foundation to focus on education, children’s health, and cancer research. She sits on the boards of the Mount Sinai Children’s Center and the Young Women’s Leadership Network. SeidmanBecker received a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Michigan and is an annual guest lecturer at the Columbia Business School Security Analysis Program. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, their three children, and two dogs.

How and why did you become involved on the ECFS board? Growing up as a public school kid in Maryland who loved learning, teachers, school spirit, and my friends, I didn’t know a place like ECFS—where all kids love learning, their individual needs can be met, and their passions pursued—could exist. For our family, the mission-based culture at ECFS is what drew us here and why we devote so much time to ensuring the school’s future. I always believe you want to make an impact on places or things that are important to you. ECFS is incredibly important to me and my family. Several years ago I was asked to serve on the Investment Committee because of my background as an investment manager, from there I was asked to participate in several strategic endeavors, including the Master Plan and Financial Aid Task Force, which involved a lot of financial modeling. This work really furthered my enthusiasm. First, because I grew up as a public school girl, the idea that this education could be accessible to students from a broad socioeconomic spectrum is something that speaks to me; second, my husband, Marc, and I are deeply committed to college access for kids from all backgrounds. ECFS’s long-term commitment to this shared goal made it very natural to become involved with the board. What do you think are the characteristics of a great board member? Great board members are passionate about our institution and are able to put the school first and leave their individual concerns at the door. When we are in that boardroom, the most productive conversations happen when trustees bring their expertise, talent, and intellect to the matter at hand. We have an exceptional group of trustees with an array of talents, years of service, and connections to ECFS. This makes for a strong team responsible for ensuring the institution remains sound for generations to come. What do you see as the board’s challenges? Most people don’t realize that in the last year the board has gone through a lot of change—going from a co-chair model to a single chair and modifying the way we calculate years of service, which resulted in a number of amazing and long-serving trustees retiring at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. Ensuring continuity through this change is part of our role as fiduciaries and inevitably challenging. Our trustees

22 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

LEFT members of the 2015-2016 board of Trustees

are incredibly devoted and are meeting this transition with graceful dedication. It is a testament to how well our school has been led for generations and a model for future generations. It is the board’s responsibility to maintain a pipeline of future leaders to ensure the longterm sustainability of the institution.

Tell us about your professional background. I studied political science at the University of Michigan, so naturally (kidding!), I went into the investment business. I worked and learned from excellent investment managers and then started my own hedge fund in 2002. I am always up for a new challenge, so in 2010 I went from running a fund and being a “passive investor” to being the CEO of an operating company. Along with my longtime business partner, we bought a biometrics identity company out of bankruptcy. We are now building CLEAR into a secure-identity company with the mission of strengthening security and bringing consumers a frictionless experience.

We like to say, “We serve now not for our children, but for our grandchildren.” If we are doing our jobs, we are thinking about the decisions we make as outlasting any one individual presently in the community.

What has been the most satisfying part of your career? Looking back now, all the stages of my career have been satisfying and rewarding. I truly believe it is a journey, and each stage had its pluses and minuses.

What have you found most rewarding about your time on the board? By far, getting to know the incredible faculty, administrators, parents, and alumni whom I would never otherwise have had the chance to know. The community inspires me in the work I do for ECFS, but outside ECFS as well. I serve on several other boards and run a biometric identity company. My experience at ECFS has been a positive influence on my work at those other organizations. My board colleagues are really the icing on the cake. When you serve on a board you get to work closely with extraordinary people. I cherish our time together and our unity around our mission. Those relationships often result in lasting, deep friendships. The ECFS board is populated with some amazing folks. I am deeply appreciative of all that they do for our school. As you look ahead to the next several years, what do you see as the board’s priorities? In the short term: managing our head-of-school transition and ensuring continuity of focus and implementation of our community-built strategic plan. This strategic plan helps ensure that ECFS remains a leading progressive institution in the 21st century.

I’m in a very satisfying part of my career. We are building and growing CLEAR at an incredibly important time in homeland security. To do this when my children are old enough to see how hard work pays off feels extra good. They are also always full of ideas and comments to help solve daily issues that come up in business—they are great free helpers. Tell us something about you that isn’t commonly known. I melt into a puddle pretty easily. Seems to be getting worse through the years—whether it be at a parent/teacher conference, or seeing my kids doing something, or watching a good TV commercial. My kids are always saying, “Mom, are you crying again?”

The ECFS Board is populated with some amazing folks. I am deeply appreciative

Simultaneously, community building remains an important focus this year—strengthening relationships in this community across all stakeholders has remained and will continue to be an important priority for the board this year.

of all that they do for our school.

Longer term: financial aid and accessibility for a diverse population of students will be a major focus of the board and, as the school’s fiduciaries, among the most important responsibilities we have as trustees.

23 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

ANNUAL BENEFIT

An Evening in

NOLA On Saturday, March 12, more than 850 members of the ECFS community were transported to the streets of New Orleans, where they dined on oysters, jambalaya, and beignets, and left a big impact in the "Big Easy." The evening featured exciting live and silent auction items and at the end of the live auction, the community came together to support the Big Give, a special auction for financial aid. Thanks to auction chairs Tania Min and Tom Friedner for their leadership, to Jen Stone for her creative talents, and to our hardworking and passionate parent volunteers, all of whom helped

make this year's benefit a success.

24 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

25 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

ANNUAL BENEFIT

26 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

27 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

OUR GIVING COMMUNITY

SECOND ECFS

Giving Tuesday Campaign SUPPORTS FINANCIAL AID When joey Parnes ’73 entered Fieldston as a sixth grader, he experienced an academic culture shock. He previously attended a crowded elementary school near his home in the South Bronx. At Fieldston, his first thought was: where are all the kids? “There were 20 kids in my class, and that was it! It was amazing,” said Parnes. He was used to peers who “didn’t like the fact that I cared about school,” said Parnes, and he would occasionally be beat up or followed. At Fieldston, everyone took school seriously. “I just couldn’t get enough of it,” he said.

90 Alumni SUPPORTED THE CAMPAIGN

Parnes’ story was one of 11 that formed this fall’s Giving Tuesday campaign, devoted entirely to supporting financial aid. The campaign spotlighted how financial aid impacts the school’s students, alumni, faculty, and community as a whole. Launched in 2012, Giving Tuesday is a global day dedicated to volunteerism and philanthropy. This year’s Giving Tuesday campaign is the school’s second. Ninety alumni supported the campaign, an increase of 50 from our first year. Here, you’ll see some of the alumni that we featured, representing a broad range of years, personal backgrounds, and continuing connections to the school, including a member of the board of trustees, a faculty member, and alumni who are also now Fieldston parents. After graduating from Columbia University, Dhari Noel ’11 returned to Fieldston this fall to work with students in the advanced Community Service Advisory Board class, teach an ethics class, and co-direct the school musical. With such recent memories of Fieldston, he spoke directly to all the ways—big and small—financial aid broadens students’ experience.

28 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

“Socially and extracurricularly, there are so many opportunities presented to Fieldston students, and each one has a literal cost,” said Noel. “Even $20 helps the school fully integrate all students in the community and ease the stress of parents who don’t have the same resources as other families.” Currently, 22 percent of ECFS students receive financial aid awards, totaling more than $13,000,000. Since its founding, ECFS has sought to educate a student body that reflects the energy and dynamic cultural landscape of New York City. Maintaining a robust financial aid budget is critical to continuing ECFS’s legacy of inclusion, socioeconomic diversity, and creating an intellectually challenging atmosphere.

ALUMNI FROM THE CLASSES OF

“ECFS is an extraordinary learning environment because our students bring their own perspectives from New York City’s diverse landscape into the classroom,” said Liz Fernández, Fieldston Middle’s ethics department chair, another “face” of our Giving Tuesday campaign. “The one commonality our students share is the opportunity to challenge each other and grow as thinkers and activists.”

1945-2015

As an institution, Fieldston is committed to increasing the endowment for financial aid, establishing our school as a leader in preserving affordability and continuing to foster an atmosphere where students—from all socioeconomic backgrounds—feel comfortable and excited by the opportunities Fieldston offers them.

CONTRIBUTED TO THE CAMPAIGN

I poured myself into the

“I was on scholarship the whole time and I knew it, and I was appreciative of it, but it didn’t make me feel like I couldn’t take advantage of everything,” said Parnes, a Tony Award-winning producer. At Fieldston, Parnes founded the Musical Comedy Society and fell in love with theater. Commuting from his South Bronx home to campus took more than 90 minutes and required three buses, so that meant “I had to choose between my neighborhood and school,” he said.

community aspects of Fieldston, and Fieldston became my hometown.

“So I chose school and I spent all my time at school,” he said. “I poured myself into the community aspects of Fieldston, and Fieldston became my hometown.”

29 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

C E L E B R AT I N G S E R V I C E T O E C F S

TOBY HIMMEL celebrating 26 years of Service to ecfS Himmel did not simply watch the change happen— she helped to create it.

30 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

W

hen asked about changes between 1989 and today, it’s a fair guess that most people would answer with a remark about computers. From mainframes to microprocessors to the iPad Mini, the last quartercentury has seen the ubiquitous rise of computing technology. Posed with such a question, about change across the 26 years that she has served Ethical Culture Fieldston School as director of alumni relations, Toby Himmel goes quickly in this direction. She mediates on some shifts in computerization she has witnessed at the school between her start in 1989 and her retirement in July 2015. Something else, however, becomes clear just as quickly. As with a great many things that have occurred at Fieldston during her tenure, Himmel did not simply watch the change happen—she helped to create it. When Himmel began working at Fieldston, she recalled that all employees in the development office shared one mainframe computer. During the 1990s, when the world began turning to computers for everyday interaction, Himmel realized that newly emerging media like email could enhance the relationships with alumni that she and Fieldston worked to cultivate. Following a mantra that has helped her navigate numerous changing tides over the years, “go where you’re going to be heard,” she saw a dramatic change in popular tools as an invitation rather than a threat. Email would be exactly what she needed to continue doing what she had always done: communicate. In a move that appears almost comical

when viewed from the advanced Mac labs of today’s Fieldston, she approached the business office stating her case for a designated alumni relations email account. Himmel was subsequently the first staff member to have a work email, and one of the earliest voices bringing Fieldston into the Internet age, where it has thrived since. Himmel’s initiative with email underscores the way that, for her, work is much more than a job title or a list of responsibilities—it is a dynamic, exciting labor of love, encapsulated in her affirmation that “if you do your job the way it’s supposed to be done, it always generates more work for you to do.” She makes a point to eschew the common retort that an assigned task is “not my job,” and her career at Fieldston reflects this mentality. Her abiding mission has been to build formative, mutually meaningful bridges between the school—its physical space but moreover its students, faculty, and staff—and its alumni all over the world. Himmel follows leads from the tried-and-true to the novel to foster those links and make them last. Email was just the start.

shaky time.” The resulting program reflects the way that cross-generational alumni engagement has helped usher Fieldston into its contemporary identity—by forging real, often surprising opportunities for community members at all stages in life to grow closer both to the school and to one another. Himmel partnered with the school’s diversity coordinators to bring back for a public conversation those alumni who had led the 1970 takeover as students. Fieldston students who participated were able to situate the institution they knew within a larger history—a history in which the place once looked very different, and in which activism helped to create the environment familiar to them— and recognize their own responsibilities to fight for social change. The participating alumni, in turn, were amazed, according to Himmel, by the positive reception they received. Concerned that their legacies would be unheralded, they met Fieldston students and faculty who were interested in their stories and who respected the tangible work they had done to reform school life. These alumni were pleased to

From her early days at ECFS, first as a parent and then as an employee, Himmel was frequently drawn to one moment in school history that kept coming up: the 1970 campus takeover by the student group B.L.A.S.C. (Black and Latin American Students Club) demanding greater diversity in Fieldston’s curricular offerings and recruitment of students and faculty. In her alumni relations role, more than two decades after the takeover occurred, Himmel wanted to organize a concerted reflection on this “incredible,

31 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

re-establish their relationship with Fieldston and subsequently returned to campus to take part in classroom history discussions. Leaning into unexpected connections and forming communal ties that actively unite conventional differences and boundaries have been characteristic of Himmel’s work at Fieldston. Another event she helped organize, an LGBTQ alumni panel, was intended, like the B.L.A.S.C. reflection, to forge productive new relationships between an ever-progressive Fieldston campus and the community members who had come before—and at times fought —to make it that way. Himmel speaks with deep appreciation of how inspired students were to hear these alumni discuss their successes and their challenges, and how moved the alumni were to find “such an outpouring and welcome in the school, in the world, where [as Fieldston students in the past] they could not always be themselves.” read more




C E L E B R AT I N G S E R V I C E T O E C F S

She reflects with particular fondness on the way physical education faculty have brought alumni together even though many students do not participate in organized sports or identify as athletes while at Fieldston. “Fieldston is known for many things,” Himmel explains, including athletics and arts. “But we are really best known for academics. Yet two events that alumni have been most moved by, and two individuals they still revere, were related to P.E.” One event honored P.E. instructor Alton (Smitty) Smith ’43, whose mentor was Clarry Miller ’29, a P.E. department chair. Himmel describes the outpouring of stories, tears, and laughter that crisscrossed generational and personal differences in the room as emblematic of Fieldston alumni’s overall passion for the school and its faculty.

Today, genuine progressive dialogue is fortunately no longer unique to Fieldston, Himmel expresses with relief. Students organizing for racial equity on campuses, institutions moving to integrate LGBTQ individuals and their perspectives, and other social initiatives she feels proud to have seen grow at Fieldston are now happening across the country. The conversations she sees shaping ECFS classrooms and lunch tables today—students critiquing “postracial” discourses, questioning American incarceration systems, speaking openly about gender and sexuality—are also going on elsewhere. But, she emphasizes, “Fieldston did it early, and in many cases Fieldston did it first.” For Himmel, the reason that track record matters goes well beyond bragging rights. It means that

BELOW Toby himmel worked with iSS (interdisciplinary Senior Seminar) students and reviewed archival primary research material.

Fieldston maintains both a proclivity and a mandate to “do it first” again—to stand at the forefront of whatever the next curves may be in progressive, inclusive, liberal arts secondary education. This mandate speaks to the very essence of ECFS history and Himmel’s contributions to it. Fieldston’s greatest continuity over time is that it always leads change. Himmel clearly believes that Fieldston’s students are its soul. To her, the school’s consistent tenacity in pioneering societal change is most evident in how its students use the education given to them after they leave. And indeed she would know this best; following Fieldston life trajectories was at the heart of her everyday work.

schools into the arts for as long as she has worked in alumni relations, and the same is true of writing, work in nonprofits, and academic research. Moreover, like the school itself, a spirit of creative flexibility has characterized Fieldston alumni no matter what the decade. Himmel has always seen people who change what they do many times and go after new avenues of knowledge their entire lives.

On one hand, she explains, educational and professional paths after Fieldston have been tremendously dynamic, reflecting historical changes both in how an ECFS education prepares them and how the larger society receives them. For instance, students who graduated in the 1980s went in especially high numbers into business and finance, where many are leaders today. “The economy dictated a need and an opportunity to earn money,” Himmel remarks, “and Fieldston was a part of that.” Likewise, the 1990s saw a swell in graduates pursuing degrees and careers in computer technology, where there were unprecedented professional opportunities.

Above all, Himmel articulates, while what alumni do may shift with the times, how they do it does not. Whether venturing into fields hitherto unknown or entering seemingly immemorial professions like law and medicine, a commitment to service guides Fieldston graduates forever. “Our alumni have always used their work to give back,” she says ardently. “They are people using their brains to do good, to make a difference.” This pervasive disposition toward service surely includes service to ECFS too. Himmel frames Fieldston’s role in its students’ post-grad lives by asserting, “Giving back to Fieldston is giving back to the place where you learned to give back.”

Although certain tracks have clearly grown more or less popular over time, Himmel also takes delight in the important mainstays she identifies in paths after Fieldston. Certain tracks, she points out, have not ebbed and flowed, such as artistic and literary careers. Fieldston has sent more graduates than most New York

32 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

What guides Himmel more than anything bursts from virtually every point in a conversation with her: her own passion for learning. This is what made her role at Fieldston so rewarding, and makes her an exemplar of the collaborative, intellectually curious school culture she makes a point to describe. Her approach to most things seems summarized in her entreaty to “Be open. Give people your time. If you don’t say ‘yes,’ there are missed opportunities you’ll never know you missed.” Saying ‘yes’ has given Himmel countless unexpected opportunities to learn things she otherwise might not have, while in many cases enriching the lives of her fellow Fieldston community members too: An ongoing connection with biographer David Cassidy, who approached her for help researching the famous physicist and Ethical Culture alumnus J. Robert Oppenheimer ’21, and who now annually joins Fieldston faculty to discuss the related play Copenhagen with Interdisciplinary Senior Seminar students; a longstanding friendship with Dr. George Feldman, class of 1915 (now deceased), who relished their standing birthday dinners well into

his nineties and who was for Himmel “a great example of taking time to make connections—here was a live person who in the nineteen-teens went to this school, and I could talk to him!” Even connections so fortuitous as a woman who approached Himmel out of the blue with some questions about her late alumnus father, and after Himmel paused what she was doing to engage this visitor, they realized that the woman had once lived in the very apartment Himmel calls home today. These sorts of bonds are not uncommon or coincidental for someone with Himmel’s generous, humble, and self-reflexive character. For her, each connection built with a Fieldstonite is an opportunity for her to learn a new story, understand a new perspective, listen to a new voice, and enrich her own self in the process. “I got

my entire education working in this place,” she says with the utmost sincerity. And through that sincerity it is easy to see something even stronger: love. Reciprocal to the outpouring of love Himmel has received since the announcement of her retirement, she possesses an unwavering love for the Fieldston community that has been home to her for nearly her whole adult life—and an unwavering love for what she does every day to strengthen that community. “What I love,” she says, getting right to the heart of it, “is helping to give people new, clear perspectives; getting people together for mutual benefit; and making everyone feel good.”

THANK YOU, TOBY

33 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

G R A D U AT I O N 2 0 1 5

GRADUATION 2015

34 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

“There’s no shame at all in failure unless you could have prevented the failure with better preparation...only you can control how hard you’re going to work, or how little you’re going to work.” — STephen dubner, co-AuThor, FreaKonomics And superFreaKonomics, AwArd-winning AuThor, JournAliST, And rAdio perSonAliTy

“As children at fieldston, we were raised dancing to the music of powerful ideas… bravery, honesty, kindness. now that we are older, we must take these familiar words and ideas and make them our own. This is our lullaby, the music we want to learn more about, the music we will dance to. it’s the fieldston i am proudest of, the fieldston we want to hold on to.” — roSe monTerA

35 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

G R A D U AT I O N 2 0 1 5

College Destinations — Class of 2015 American University in Paris Amherst College Bard College Bates College Bennington College Boston University Bowdoin College Brandeis University Brown University Bucknell University Carleton College Claremont McKenna College Colby College Colgate University Colorado College

36 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

Connecticut College Cornell University Dartmouth College Duke University Emory University Fordham University Franklin & Marshall College George Washington University Grinnell College Hamilton College Hampshire College Harvard University Haverford College Ithaca College

“The school my classmates and i are leaving today is a great one. i have met countless remarkable people here, and i will be forever grateful to this school for shaping me into the person i am today. but i cannot stand here and simply congratulate fieldston on its excellence, because this school has taught me better than that. here at fieldston, i have learned to say what needs to be said, and to criticize when it is necessary. i’m speaking to you today because it is necessary. because fieldston has too much potential and too much influence to continue to exist as an agent of inequality. because the gap between what this school could be and what this school is, is far too large, and growing.” — elliS mAxwell

Johns Hopkins University Kenyon College Lafayette College McGill University Macalester College Middlebury College Massachusetts Institute of Technology Muhlenberg College New York University Northwestern University Oberlin University Occidental College Princeton University Skidmore College

Stanford University Syracuse University Tufts University Tulane University University of Chicago University of Miami University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania University of Wisconsin Vanderbilt University Wake Forest University Washington University Wesleyan University Williams College Yale University

“we are about to be jettisoned to what i can only hope are equally green pastures. we are going to join new communities, perhaps lead them someday. we are going to love these communities, but these communities will have flaws and it’s our obligation as products of this school to use the tools we’ve been given to enact lasting, meaningful change.” — evAn weinSTein

37 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

E C F S A LU M N I

meet patty nasey DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS Patty Nasey, a longtime member of the Fieldston community, was appointed director of Alumni Relations on October 1, 2015. She is the proud parent of Mara Goldberg ’16 and has been a dedicated parent volunteer since 2010. As a P+T leader, Nasey has collaborated on planning Homecoming, the Sports Dinner, rebranding community events, and merchandising. Nasey comes to Fieldston after a 25-year career in sales, marketing, and event planning for the magazine industry at Condé Nast and at a variety of publications from Teen Vogue and Parenting to New York magazine. Where did you grow up and how would you describe the high school version of yourself?

What’s the one word that best describes you: Enthusiast.

Guilty pleasure: Sunbathing (what can I say, I’m from California!)

Words to live by: A favorite quote is “Life is a journey, not a destination.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). It helps me stay in the present.

Favorite spot on campus: The upper school cafeteria. I love the high ceilings, the exposed brick, the big windows, the wood floors with the orange “F” in the center (it used to be the gym). But mostly I love seeing faculty and students waiting on the food line together, sitting in the same room (not necessarily at the same table), talking and laughing over a meal. There’s a very positive energy in the cafeteria—and the food’s good too!

I grew up in a small Northern California town called Grass Valley. Gold was discovered there in 1849 so it’s a very quaint place— covered sidewalks, landmark hotels and saloons, a mine that’s been preserved as an historic state park, and it’s only an hour from Lake Tahoe and some of the best ski resorts in the country (which I didn’t fully appreciate until I moved to the East Coast.) There was only one high school for the entire county, so my graduating class (1983) had more than 650 students. I was very involved—chorus, school play, debate club, badminton team. I was elected mascot for the varsity basketball team in 11th grade (I had to dress up as a gold miner!) and football cheerleader in 12th grade (and our town was straight out of Friday Night Lights so it was very exciting). At our Senior Breakfast before graduation, I was nominated to be the class reunion chair. Although I’ve moved (far) away, I still help to plan and coordinate the Reunion (thank goodness for Facebook!). There is no direct flight from New York but every five years, I take two airplanes, rent a car, drive for an hour, rent a hotel room (my family has moved away from the area), and show up to connect with my classmates who know me better than anyone. It’s a long journey, but I have never once regretted making the trip.

38 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

What’s the best job you’ve ever had (before the Fieldston alumni director position)?

What are your goals as director of alumni relations? Now that I have an office at Fieldston (versus coming up for occasional meetings as a parent or P+T officer), I am delighted to see how the school’s mission comes to life every day on campus. From weekly assemblies and lunchtime roundtable discussions on topics ranging from feminism to prison reform; from the highenergy pep rally and the creative outfits at the Fashion Show to the moment of silence on the Quad for victims of recent terror attacks— this school vibrates with the energy of students who are engaged, excited, and ethical. From my office window, I see and hear a diverse and joyful community—kids who are genuinely grateful to attend this outstanding institution. My job as director of alumni relations is to cultivate that attitude of gratitude by doing all I can to keep alumni connected to one another and to ECFS through events, communication, and volunteer opportunities.

In the summer of 1989, I moved to New York City from California to intern for SPY, the brilliant satire magazine edited by Kurt Andersen and Graydon Carter, before starting a one-year program at the graduate school of journalism at NYU. I was only supposed to stay in New York one year, but after the summer internship, I was offered a part-time paid position in the special events department at SPY magazine and, well, four years later, I was the special events director, had a rent-controlled apartment in the West Village, and was dating the college friend of a co-worker, who would later become my husband. My SPY business card was like an all-access pass to the city—I was able to get into clubs, restaurants, free movie screenings, museums—all while working for a magazine I truly respected and loved. Sadly, the magazine went out of business in the mid-’90s, but I credit SPY with launching my 25-year career in the magazine publishing industry, finding me a life partner, and keeping me in New York City.

BELOW patty nasey enjoys her first homecoming as alumni relations director.

How does your magazine experience relate to alumni relations? As a sales and marketing executive, my job was twofold: bring the magazine to life for consumers by creating opportunities to connect with the publication outside of the pages, and to develop advertising partnerships and other revenue streams that helped the magazine fulfill its editorial mission. At Fieldston, I look forward to keeping alumni connected to ECFS through on- and off-campus events, developing opportunities for alumni to engage with faculty, staff, and one another while expanding our base of alumni volunteers and supporters to help further the mission of ECFS.

What’s your connection to Fieldston? My daughter (class of 2016) came to Fieldston Middle School as a sixth grader. She had attended elementary school at PS 199 in Manhattan, and we were looking for a school that not only had a commitment to academic excellence, but also had a nurturing environment, that encouraged critical thinking and experiential learning, that emphasized community service in and out of the classroom, and that had a campus with lots of light and outdoor space. Fieldston was the first choice by a long shot and I’ll never forget the morning I dropped her off for her sixth grade orientation. She was met outside the middle school by her “buddy” who escorted her into the building while I parked the car. As I watched her walk happily up the driveway, I began to cry—not just because of the separation, but because I was so grateful that my daughter was able to attend her dream school and that we would be part of this wonderful community. It’s because of that gratitude that I became an active P+T volunteer and held many leadership positions, ranging from grade chair in seventh grade, to sports dinner co-chair for two years, to Upper School P+T co-chair where I worked on Homecoming, Inside the Classroom, and other initiatives and events. My daughter will be leaving Fieldston when she graduates in June, but I’m so happy I get to stay!

I see and hear a diverse and joyful community—kids who are genuinely grateful to attend this outstanding institution.

39 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

M I C H A E L F E I G E L S O N ’9 6

Living the

for ThiS iSSue of The ecF reporter, we Are conTinuing our SerieS, living The miSSion, which exploreS how differenT memberS of The eThicAl culTure fieldSTon School communiTy exemplify The School’S principleS: vAluing civic diAlogue, diverSiTy, perSonAl reSponSibiliTy, Service leArning, And SociAl JuSTice.

M

ichael Feigelson ’96 has spent the last 15 years focused on working

with governments, civil society, and business to improve opportunities for children and youth. He is currently the executive director of the Netherlands-based Bernard van Leer Foundation. Feigelson has degrees from Wesleyan and Princeton, where he spent much of his time focused on understanding the impact of social and economic policies on children and families; he serves on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Behaviour; and—most important—he is the proud father of an almost two-year-old girl who reminds him every day of the importance, the challenges, and the joy that comes with a child’s early years. Bernard van Leer was a Dutch entrepreneur who built a large global packaging company. After witnessing the destruction of World War II, he was inspired to invest in improving society. He started a foundation in 1949 with a wide range of philanthropic activities. After Bernard passed away in 1958, his son Oscar took over the company and the foundation.

60 ECF Reporter : Spring 2016

Oscar focused the mission of the foundation on disadvantaged children. He believed that giving all children a fair start in life was not only good for them, but also crucial to building peaceful, prosperous, and creative societies. Over the past half century, we have worked in more than 50 countries and invested over half a billion dollars. We have collaborated with a wide range of innovators and researchers to find better

Mission Giving all children a fair start in life was ways to meet the needs of babies, toddlers, and their families, and supported governments to build national systems of service delivery that continue to impact the lives of millions of children each year. In the last 20 years, experts from fields as diverse as public health, neuroscience, and economics have provided empirical evidence for Oscar’s belief—that investing in disadvantaged young children is not only the fair thing to do, but also incredibly effective. Neuroscience researchers, for example, have found that approximately 80 percent of brain development occurs in the first three years of life, when the brain is establishing between 700 and 1,000 new neural connections per second. Economists, such as Nobel Laureate James Heckman, have shown how investing in disadvantaged young children results in lifetime improvements in health and education outcomes, higher incomes, less crime, and reduced welfare spending. When I took over as executive director of the foundation 12 months ago, I did so in a climate of accelerating interest in early childhood development. Lifelong advocates observed that decades of campaigning, combined with the spread of research findings like those noted above, were paying off. Governments, businesses, and foundations the world over seemed to have gotten the message. Instead of asking why invest in a child’s earliest years, the debate was shifting to how to invest to get the biggest impact for the most children.

not only good for them, but also crucial to building peaceful, prosperous, and creative societies. At the Foundation—whether we are piloting new models of service delivery to support parents in the Peruvian Amazon, investing in a catering company to employ low-income mothers in Israel, or backing a nationwide campaign in India to improve developmental outcomes for young children growing up in slums—we are always focused on getting solutions into the hands of leaders and institutions positioned to take action at scale. We’ve learned that although our financial resources are limited, we can have an impact well beyond our means when we pick partners with capabilities that outmatch our own. Whether in my job at the Foundation today, in my prior professional roles ranging from a street outreach worker in Mexico to a management consultant in New York City, or (especially) as the new father of a baby girl, I’ve always been convinced that when driven by the right values, focused on solutions as opposed to problems, and surrounded by people more capable than ourselves, we can change lives. I like to think this is what I was meant to learn from that famous phrase, still plastered in my memory from 14 consecutive Founder’s Day ceremonies at the Ethical Culture auditorium, “‘The place where people meet to seek the highest is holy ground.”

Ethical Culture Fieldston School 33 Central Park West New York, NY 10023-6601

Tag your friends and make new @ecfs1878 memories. #FieldstonReunion16 is June 4.