August 1984 - Hammonassetschool.com

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Vol. VI
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No.1
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August 1984
Graduation
1984
Few occasions turn a laugh into a
tear as quickly and frequently as the
graduation ceremony at Hammonasset.
The class of '84 and friends took everybody through the emotional wringer on
June 8, with an assortment of presentations that has come to typify the character of this evening, and with such pace
and aplomb that the overwhelming heat
of the Arts Barn was all but forgotten.
Well, maybe not forgotten ...
Headmaster Donald Grace acted as
master of ceremonies and commenced
the festivities with a short speech in
which he offered "four noble truisms
and two ignoble truths," to the graduates.
"All my deepest worries must be his
cartoons," quoted Grace from the Woodstock soundtiack, suggesting to the
graduates that they "become cartoonists
so that they may learn how to laugh at
the world, others, and themselves."
Grace's other choice words of advice
were to "make music in your world,"
"become a synthesizer of the needs of
your own, of others and of the environment," and "become an agent for
change, and shape that change so that
it is positive."
On the ignoble side, Grace assured
the future parents that "you can never
get enough baby-sitters," and quoted a
Latin proverb concerning perserverance despite the efforts of those you
dislike, "lllegitimi Non Carburundum."
The variety of diploma presentations
provided a wealth of humor and poignancy as the audience was treated to
poetry, both published and personal,
gift giving, fond and embarrassing recollections, and even a five minute improvisation about wasting time at the beach.
The special quality of a Hammonasset graduation ceremony, and fully
evident on this evening, is the way it
generates a sharing of love among the
members of the community, and very
significantly, the reaffirming of care between the graduate and his or her family.
Graduation at Hammonasset is more
than a ceremony; it is a celebration.
And that is certainly a noble truism.
The graduates, and their plans for
next year, are: John Austin, Madison,
University of Vermont; Lisa Brause, New
Haven, Roger Williams College; Jennifer Butler, Hamden, Hampshire College;
John Campana, Meriden, Computer
School; Mat Diamond, Cromwell, undecided; Kris Emack, Madison, Sarah
Lawrence College; Chris Goodale,
Deep River, Green Mountain College;
Annie Harris, Madison, Hampshire College; Kate Kelly, Clinton, Colby College;
Dana Lowry, Westville, Simmons College;
Nomi Lubin, New Haven, Bennington
College; Jessica Miller, North Haven,
Undecided; Jodi Miller, Killingworth,
Undecided; Lisa Nadel, Chester, Barnard; Damon Pearce, Branford, Undecided; Jennifer Vaughn, Old Lyme,
Hampshire College; Linda Weed, Durham, Roger Williams College.
John Austin is the subject for a few of Larry Fin man's quips at graduation. Enjoying the humor with Austin are John Dombi and Laura Gibbons.
Damon Pearce and friends spend some time at the beach in an improvisational
diploma presentation, one of the more creative of the evening.
Headmaster's Newsletter
By any measure, this has been a watershed year for
Hammonasset. Sometimes the signs of that have been
boldly stated; sometimes they have been whispers of
crucial changes.
This was my second year, a year when most headmasters
attempt to move a school in asignificantway. My experience
was not unique, then, as I witnessed the shaping of a new
combination of forces forming the school.
Last summer was a good one in admissions-virtually
half the school was new on opening day. The faculty retreat
is simply the best idea for a start of any school that I have
known, and last September was no exception. Opening
activities for the rest of the school ensured a positive, wholecommunity spiritfrom the beginning. That spirit was greatly
tested with the controversy over the change to letter grades,
a controversy that engaged all constituencies of the Hammon asset community-students, faculty, staff, parents,
alumni/ae, board, head. Our first parents night will probably
never again be so well-attended or energized (you know
something is happening when a community meeting on
parent's night goes past 11 :00 P.M.!) What bound us together
in that crisis was a common respect for other's opinions, a
realization that real change had to occur somewhere to stop
a fatal slide in enrollment in the last few years, and an
awareness of the other special parts of the program that were
strong and on-going.
The 1Oth Anniversary of the school further bound the
school together, with moving ceremonies of past, current and
future life of the school. I have never felt such energy in a
school, and the flurry of activity in the months that followed
seemed to result from that energy. Ambitious school plays,
an outstanding alumni/ae art show, an integrating Interim
Week, a soccer banquet capping a fair season, an impressive
college night series, greatly increased outreach and interest
in the school from outside, a major grant of money from a
private source outside the school, a new Arts Barn roof (early
on), an important Evaluation Week, a fine set of senior
masterwork presentations, a weekend of performing arts with
dance and mime-these all mix together in my memory to
form a vibrant, pulsing fall and winter.
Then we shot the rapids and were in to spring so quickly:
another successful Interim Week, a better-than-expected
college record, a well-timed Silent Auction, another fine play,
a unifying Spring Arts Festival. We received a $25,000 grant
for a scholarship endowment fund from the Ford Foundation,
signaling a new level of outreach by the school.
A second major challenge to school unity occurred when
the faculty and I closed Open Campus because of some
incidences of significant property destruction off campus
during school hours and because of a general erosion of
student responsibility on Open Campus. But this crisis was
resolved much more quickly, with a student-faculty committee
writing a new policy that was accepted virtually intact by the
faculty and me. This was a different community than the one
that wrestled with the grading issue in the fail-a community
with new resources for resolving difficult and important
community problems.
In the midst of all of this, admissions inquiries were tripling,
and we were on our way to reversing the enrollment decline of
the last few years. With the summer we expect, we should be
able to open the school with more students (and more of them
committed Ham monas set students) than we opened with last
year. The high attrition rates of the last few years can and will
be cured.
The figures, the accomplishments in the classroom, and
the positive reactions from outside have prompted the board
to call for a five-year plan, which I have submitted. The year
ahead looks to be very exciting in the discussing of the many
aspects of that plan. It is a real change to beabletothinkthat
far ahead for Hammonasset, and that thinking will generate
energy by itself.
It has not been smooth. Several members of an unusually
dedicated faculty have left the school, along with a few staff
members. Some will teach, while others will do graduate
work; all of them will be missed greatly by those of us who
remain. At the same time, there is an electricity already
moving from the new faculty and staff and the new opportunities for individual and group effort.
The curriculum will be shaped in new ways by the new
faculty. We are due for a full review of that curriculum, and of
graduation requirements this coming year. A curriculum
development project on humanities/technology is in the
works for next summer.
The circus comes to Hammonasset, only a few days from
this writing. It symbolizes much of the change in the school.
We have sought creative new ways to combine excitement
and education-having fun while we are improving the
quality of a Hammonasset education and ensuring its continuation.
Hammonasset has not stood still with its early innovations.
We have kept the strongest of these intact; we have eliminated
or greatly modified those that were most burdensome; we
have improved those that needed work; and we have developed new innovations in response to changing needs.
Some of the dreams have changed, but the dreaming has
not. Hammonasset continues to be a visionary school, even
as it struggles to redefine itself for the late 1980's. How
exciting it is to be a witness and a participant in a school that
is rejuvenating itself.
Tenth Anniversary
Of all the year's events, the Tenth Anniversary Celebration
on November 3rd and 4th attracted the most fanfare, and the
symbolic moment that it observed was indeed worthy of
such attention!
The vision, determination, and results of the Committee
for a Shoreline Secondary School were congratulated in a
festivity-filled two days that featured an art exhibit, an evening
of one-act plays by Chekov, lonesco, and Williams, and a
dinner keynoted by past Hammonasset parent William Zinsser,
executive director of the Book of the Month Club, and author
of "On Writing Well."
By all accounts, the celebration lived up to its hype, and
we thank all of you who were able to attend and share in the
fun. The Eleventh Anniversary Celebration is not expected
to be quite as large.
New Trustees and Faculty
New Trustees:
Richard Adelstein
Helen Davis
lou Esposito
Edward Katzenberger
Richard Adelst®in ~Richard is an Associate Professor of Economics at Wesleyan after having served appointments at Northeastern U n iver~ ity, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, and
Oxford University. A graduate of M .I.T., he has added aM AT. from
Harvard and a J.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Richard lives with his wife and two daughters in Middletown, and is
currently on the Board of Directors of Equity Housing Inc., a low
income housing cooperative there.
Georgia Berman- Georgia, a Hamden resident, is a masters
candidate in the department of Epidemiology and Public Health at
the Yale School of Medicine. Berman holds a B.S. in Human
Services from New Hamphsire College. She has been a management intern for the Harvard Community Health Plan in Boston,
Massachusetts, a controller and member of the administrative
cabinet of the Urban League of Greater New Haven, past president
of the League of Women Voters of Hamden, and past research
committee chairperson and newsletter editor for Parents and
Teachers in Unity, in Hamden.
Berman has a son who is entering the tenth grade at Hammonasset.
He!en Davis~ Helen, a Madison resident, was one of the
founding parents of Hammonasset; Jerry, her son, was class of
'77. She received her B.A. from Wilson College and has a M.A. in
special education from the University of Hartford.
A past Chairman of the Board of the Country School and past
President ofTem pie Beth Tikvah, Helen is currently on the board of
the Madison Library.
Nicholas Duke- Nick is presently Assistant Director of Development and Director of Foundation Relations at Quinnipiac
College.
A resident of Guilford, Nick has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University
and a M.Ed. from the University of Hartford. He is on the Development committee of the Salisbury School, the Planning Committee
of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the Finance Committee
of the Museum of American Theatre, and the board ofThe Harbor, a
social service, educational, and arts agency in New York City.
lou Esposito- Lou is currently the president of Futureschool, a
computer schooling program, President of International Computer
Tours, and a private consultant/lecturer on computer and rehabilitation engineering.
Agraduateofthe UniversityofTennesseeand holder of a M.B.A.
from Northwestern, Lou is also currently serving as a Ham monasset parent; Kyle will be a senior this year. The Espositos live in
Madison.
Edward Katzenberger~ Edward,aCiilnton resident, is an alumnus
of New York University and the Guggenheim School of Aeronautics
at Princeton. An Associate Fellow of the Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics, he founded the American Helicopter Society
and has worked as Project Engineer, Chief of Design, and Chief
Engineer at Sikorsky. Currently he is heading the building committee of the Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Church in Madison.
Heather Vaughn- Heather, of Old Lyme, will be the student
trustee for the upcoming year. Heather entered Hammonasset as
an 8th grader, and after three years, has established herself as a
voracious reader, a creative writer, and an effective speaker.
Bud Church will serve as faculty trustee this year.
New Faculty:
Heather Vaughn
Paul Birdsall- Paul will be teaching Physical Education, Health,
Intramural Sports, Algebra I, Introductory Science, and an interscholastic sport in each trimester. He has a B.S. in Physical
Education from Manhattan College and is completing a M.S. in
Education (Exercise Physiology) from Iowa State University. Paul
has taught at the Harvey School in Katonah, New York the past two
years.
Meiissa Blacker- Melissa will be offering private piano and
voice lessons at Hammonasset. She has a B.A. in Music and
Anthropology from Wesleyan University and has studied piano
privately for over 20 years. A private instructor since 1979, Melissa
(continued)
Paul Birdsall
Ailene Burt
B1.1d lichtenstein
Todd Nissen
New Faculty (continued)
has taught at Wesleyan, and has performed with Wesleyan
groups and the Sonomama Improvisation Dance Theater.
Allene Burt- Allene has become the Business Manager
as of July 1, and she will also be teaching Algebra I in the
fall. She has a B.S. in Pathobiology from the University of
Connecticut; while at UConn, she tutored hartford innercity high school students. Allene was a compliance accounting officer at Firstbancorp in New Haven before
coming to Hammonasset.
Michael Givert:z- Michael will be teaching Chemistry,
Biology, Pre-Algebra, and a trimester Environmental Studies
course, as well as helping in a fall sport. He is a recent
graduate of Brown University, with an A.B. in Environmental
Studies. He has spent a summer in the Sea Education
School-Ship Program atWood's Hole Oceanographic Institute, and he is at Wood's Hole this summer on an Environmental Research Project.
Bud lichtenstein- Bud will be teaching Western Civilization, U.S. History, Politics,J unior Independent Research
Project, and Outdoor Education, as well as assisting in
soccer. He has a B.A. in History from Wesleyan and is
currently taking courses toward a masters in American
Studies atTrinity College in Hartford. Bud comes to us from
the middle school system of Simsbury, Connecticut.
Michael Musillami- Michael will be offering private guitar
lessons this year at Hammonasset. He has studied guitar at
Rutgers University, the Guitar Institute of Technology, and
at the Westchester Conservatory. He has taught privately
since 19784, has been the guitar teacher at the Hotchkiss
School and Salisbury School, and has performed coast-tocoast since 1981.
Todd Nissen- Todd has joined the faculty as Public
Relations Coordinator and will teach a Modern European
History course, along with a section of Junior Independent
ALUMNI/AE NOTES
It's been great- as always- to see so
many of you here at school, either for dropin visits, or for special events. Spring Drama
and Arts Performances attracted a lot of
alumns, including Sam ('82) and Stuart ('81)
Gailey, Justin i\llie! ('83), Rachael Price ('83)
and Ulysses Owen-Mankcivich ('83).
Graduation on June 8th, in the Arts Barn,
brought out a bunch of recent grads- among
them Tim Nugent ('82), a presenter for Damon
Pearce; Jen Bennitt ('83) who gave a diploma to Annie Harris, and Stacey Arena ('83)
who shared the stage as Nomi Lubin received
her diploma. Debbie Gan ('83) was also a
presenter for lisa Nadel who spent her last
trimester studying in Paris. Among other
familiar faces at graduation were John
Campana's brothers Jimmy ('76) and Luigi
('78), Byron Deloatch ('78), and many others
who moved just too fast to be recorded for
these notes!
We hope that many of you came to see
the Big Apple Circus. It was a wonderful,
funny, professional show! The Circus Committee has been helped by Mike Maguire
(75), and Kathy Armstrong ('82) representing
the Alumni/ae.
1975
Margaret Bouhuys Cragg tells us that she
is busy raising chickens and children (Michael
Arend, 2, and Alexander Richardson, 1) with
her husband Steve in Hotchkiss, Colorado.
Steve works as a surveyor while Margaret
offers her talents to the local Women's Health
Clinic, a food co-op, and her garden. They
welcome all visitors to the "Hub of Delta
County," recommending August if you like
Research Project. A history major at Haverford College,
Todd served as a feature columnist/reporter/photographer
for the Bryn Mawr-Haverford College News. He has also
been a columnist for The Columbia Flier in Columbia,
Maryland.
Molly O'Dell- Molly will be teaching physics, ecology,
calculus, and tennis on the interscholastic and intramural
levels. She has recently received her B.A. in physics from
Carleton College where she was also the captain of the
women's varsity tennis team. She was active in a number of
organizations there, including the Rock Climbing Club, the
Women's Recreation Association, the Nuclear Freeze Coalition, and the Women's Caucus.
Joan Pagano- Joan has become the Bookkeeper here
after being Bank Manager and Assistant Vice-President for
the National Industrial Bank of Connecticut for ten years.
She has also been Chairman for the Central Connecticut
chapter of the National Association of Bank Women. Joan
has studied business management at Quinnipiac College
and Post College.
Beverly Powers- Bev has been our resident tutor on staff
and will continue to serve in that capacity-to be available
to families on a separately-contracted basis for tutorial
work. She will also be offering a study skills course offered
as part of the curriculum. Bev has an M.S. from Southern
Connecticut State Uniersity and will be receiving a diploma
from the Gillingham Teacher Training course. She has
taught levels K through adult for the last 15 years.
Dave Rynick- Dave will be teaching pottery, photography,
and other arts electives. He has a B.A. from Wesleyan in
Sociology and an MAL.S. in studio arts, also from Wesleyan.
Dave has taught numerous courses there, has been the
studio manager for Wesleyan Potters, has taught akido and
dance, and has performed and shown his works for four
years.
peaches, the fail if apples are your preference. After working first as a miner in South
Dakota and then spending some time in
South America, David Johnson is an organizer for United Electrical Workers at Smith
and Wesson in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Liddy Karter got wet with all the other grads
at Yale when she received her Master's from
the School of Organization and Management on May 28, the rainiest day yet!
1976
Bruce lyon has left his job as store manager for Radio Shack and gone to Brad lees
as a department manager for "Mrs. B." Kim
Armstrong has graduated from Law School
and plans to be married at her family's home
in Guilford next October. Someone reports
that Greg Wilkins is living in Stony Creek
and working at Friends & Co., in Madison. A
very outdated note (1 982) from Jon Foote
reported he is/was the Founder and Principal in the Architectural firm of Foote, Fox
and White Associates in Providence, Rhode
Island. More recent word comes from Tricia
lowrey lippert in New Jersey. She and her
husband Lonnie have just moved, she works
as a waitress in a pub and is doing a lot of
art work. She's completed four private commissions, and had a solo show at her college
in Vermont. Julie Yancey brought her college
year to a close this year with a B.A. in Mathematics from Fort Lewis College in Durango,
Colorado.
1977
Richie Riggs is living in Kew Gardens in
New York and working as a banker in Manhattan completing his college education at
the same time. Anne Cassidy sends word
from Maine that she's working as a travel
agent in Portland. She graduated from travel
school in Florida, and worked in Dallas before moving to Maine. She has plans to get
involved with the Portland Players theatre
group. laura Wakem Coyne has moved
from the Navy to the Navy Reserves and
she and her husband are living in West Hartford. She's a dental receptionist and taking
courses at Post College. Steve Pickett is
married to Janet Plant ('79) and they're living
in Hamden. And for those in the area, be
sure to visit the Goodspeed's new theatre in
Chester this summer, and next fall you'll find
Gerry Davis running things!
1978
Susan Addiss graduated from Oberlin in
1982 after a year studying in France, and is
working in Norwalk at a market research
company specializing in high-techmarkets.
She's living in Bridgeport. Alison Johr!son
reports the June 1st floods in Middletown
make life pretty messy and travel interesting
as only one road was open- in or out.
1979
Apologies to Keith Struve for not reporting
sooner on his 1982 (!!)note that he had then
just completed the University of Pittsburg
"Semester at Sea" voyage around the world.
From there he went to the University of Colorado at Boulder for a major in Economics.
For any of you who didn't read 1977's notes,
Janet Plant is married to Steve Pickett- and
has been since November 1981! A quick
glimpse of Will Hine brings news of a new
job at the Underwater Sound Lab in New
London. Keith Comeford is being married
on June 30 to Lorrie Hermanson. They live
in Waltham, Massachusetts where Keith is a
programmer for Digital Equipment Corporation.
j
1980
The only news from 1980 comes from Colin Powers who got to California on his bicycle, and is attending U.C. Berkeley. He
gets into whitewater kayaking whenever he
can.
1981
The best news is that Virginia Hambley
has made an incredible recovery from her
accident last year. She divides her time between New York City and Old Lyme, and
was at Hammonasset quite a bit this spring.
It was geat to see her! Jay Van Deusen is
finishing his Junior Year at Penn State where
he is Vice-president of the Alpha Gamma
Rho Fraternity and vn the Inter-Fraternity
Council Board of Control. He's still majoring
in Agricultural Science, with a minor in Economics.
1982
Jack Chin, a Junior at Wesleyan, majoring
in History, is the Founder of a college based
newspaper called "Independent Right of
Center."
1983
Significant?? Silence at press time!
General news of interest is that Tom West
is returning to teaching, and will join the
faculty of the Independent Day School in
Middlefield next fall. It will be good to have
him back in the neighborhood. And Doug
Macdonald's friends will be sorry to learn of
his mother's death at the end of May.
Thanks very much-- to all who have
helped with news, and/or contributions to
the Annual Fund. We can use more of both!
Always! And if you'd like to be involved in
any way with Alumni/ae activities, be sure to
speak up. Mostly wisdom and ideas-not
lots of work. So far only three or four people
have indicated they're interested, and we
need a couple from each class. Planning
events, reunions, and generally giving the
school your ideas, reactions, comments is
what it's all about.
Hammonasset Notes
The first individual art show by a Hammonasset student
occured this year as Nomi Lubin, '84, opened a one-woman
show at the Jewish Community Center in New Haven. The
exhibition, which featured her art in mixed media on paper,
ran for two weeks in March and April.
Do' a, a musical duo of Randy Armstrong and Ken LaRoche,
returned to the school this year for another evening of imaginative and enchanting music making. The pair play many
unusual instruments in addition to the flute, piano, and guitar,
and on this evening, they were accompanied by student
dancers who performed to a few selected concert pieces. We
may well see D'oa again next year.
The soccer team is becoming a powerhouse on the independent school circuit. This year's team posted the second
winning season in a row for the school by defeating Cheshire
Academy 3-1 in the last game of the season to boost its
record to 5-4-1. The prospects are bright for next year as
John Campana was the only player lost to graduation.
Publication continued to be a way of life at Hammonasset.
Jennifer Butler of Hamden took it a step further; she published her own book. "A Legacy of Love, An Oral History of
My Grandparents," a 39-page text published by The Advocate
Press in New Haven, was dedicated to Margie and Steve
Cenotti on their 50th wedding anniversary by Butler, who
undertook the project as her Masterwork. Jennifer will attend
Hampshire College in the fall.
On the peace scene, Hammonasset students upheld their
reputation as socially active citizens when they sponsored a
discussion workshop following ABC-TV's screening of "The
Day After."
Dr. David London, a local psychiatrist and area coordinator with Physicians for Social Responsibility, led the Monday
and Tuesday discussions, addressing not just concerns for
life in a nuclear age but also the political issues involved in
nuclear proliferaton.
Smaller discussion groups supplemented the informal
debate and questionnaires were distributed to measure personal attitudes towards nuclear issues, the results of which
London said he would use for study.
The Big Apple Circus
The Big Apple Circus made a triumphant five day
appearance at Hammonasset, raising a good sum of
money for the school and treating the area to top quality entertainment. The intimate, European style circus
dazzled and delighted shoreline residents of all ages,
and popular demand may bring it back next year. The
faculty remains intact despite the temptations of a few
to run away with the troupe.
Annual Giving
The annual giving drive was a startling
success. The $60,000 goal was surpassed
by several thousand dollars as the campaign reached its completion on June
30. Connie Pike was, in her word, "euphoric" about the response. A hearty thank
you to all who participated.
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