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A magazine for alumni and friends of The Blake School
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Winter 2016
Best MedicineDr. Dziwe Ntaba ’90
and the prescription for global health
World ScholarsThe international student
experience at Blake
Recipe for SuccessIn the kitchen with food entrepreneur
Michelle Horovitz ’98
Cyrusa magazine for alumni and friends of The Blake School
b Cyrus
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
Beyond Borders These days, it seems as though virtually every school is in the business of preparing students for a “global world.” For good cause: never before in human history has our planet seemed quite this small. We can no longer afford to view politics, culture, health, education or most any concept through a local lens. But how do you really equip young people to think big, to see an issue from many perspectives, to connect seemingly disparate disciplines, to enlarge their zone of comfort? Frankly, it’s tough to do this well, and a lot of educational institutions, while having mastered the lexicon of global education, struggle with how best to teach these essential skills and attributes. At Blake, we view “global” not as a separate field of study but as a worldview that in-forms curricula across all grades and subjects. We understand that to foster this world- view students must engage in hands-on learning, grapple with real-world challenges and collaborate with people from varied backgrounds. Just this year, for instance, we are welcoming students, speakers and instructors from five different continents. (You will read about some of them in the pages ahead.) We are connecting digitally and in-person with peer schools in Indonesia, Cuba, South Africa, India and Jordan. And we are launching a revamped global immersion program — one that encompasses in-coun-try interdisciplinary study, service learning and pre- and post-trip classroom time and reflection. While “global education” at Blake takes many forms, it shares one aim: to provide students with transformative learning experiences that prepare them to thrive and lead. Wherever you are in this small world, I wish you well. Please consider reaching out to us with an update or story idea at [email protected].
Anne E. Stavney, Ph.D.Head of SchoolThe Blake School
Cyrusa magazine for alumni and friends of The Blake School
EditorKristin Stouffer Managing EditorTracy Grimm
Graphic DesignerSusan Byrne
Thanks to the many Blake community members who have contributed to this publication.
Our MissionThe Blake School provides students with an excellent, academically challenging education in a diverse and supportive community committed to a common set of values. Students are expected to participate in an integrated program of academic, artistic and athletic activities in preparation for college, lifelong learning, community service and lives as responsible world citizens.
Our Core ValuesRespectLove of LearningIntegrityCourage Commitment to Pluralism
The Blake SchoolAdministrative Offices110 Blake Road SouthHopkins, MN 55343952-988-3430
Why Cyrus?Cyrus Northrop played a formative role in one of Blake’s founding institutions. In 1915, Northrop Collegiate School was named in his honor to recognize Dr. Northrop’s achievements as a nationally regarded educator and as president of the University of Minnesota. His legacy of educational excellence continues at Blake today.
COVER STORY
TOGETHER IN HEALTHDr. Dziwe Ntaba ’90 draws on the power of community for medical solutions.PAGE 6
IN PHOTOS
New WorldBlake’s international students explore new cultures, customs and activities during their yearlong stay in the Twin Cities.
PAGE 12
Q&A
Appetite for Change Michelle Horovitz ’98 is changing the way people think about food and the ways it can better lives.
PAGE 16
DEPARTMENTS
In Brief 2
Cover Story 6
In Photos 12
Q&A 16
In Print & Production 18
Class Notes 19
Voices 29
CONTENTSWinter 2016
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IN BRIEF PROGRAM
STUDENTS FOLLOW THEIR HEARTS They may just be entering their teens, but Blake Middle School students are already keeping an eye on their heart health. Physical education teacher Alanna Wahl is piloting a heart rate monitor program in her seventh grade classes. During class, each student wears a bluetooth monitor that syncs with an app on their teacher’s iPad and a watch that allows them to see their own heart rate. The data allows Wahl to assess students objectively, based on their exertion during particu-lar activities. And the students learn how different activities affect their heart rate. “I love that students who are tradi-tionally less successful in PE can see that they’re exerting themselves at a fairly similar level to their more physically active peers,” Wahl says. “And it challenges students who may be able to work through a PE class fairly easily to say, ‘We’re going to push you a little further,’ and to see what that feels like for them.” As a tool that can provide both immediate and lifelong bene-fits, Wahl hopes the program will grow within the school in years to come.
ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT ARCHIVES ARTS HIGHLIGHT AWARDS COMMUNITY FACES ON CAMPUS PROGRAM SERVICE
ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT
FROM AWARENESS TO ACTION The scourge of sex traffick-ing is often thought to exist in other cities or countries. But Minneapolis is home to an active, often violent, sex trafficking market where the average age of female victims is 15. Raising awareness of these devastating crimes and supporting victims who want to break free from them was the focus of a student-led project for the course Global Issues, Local Realities, taught by Upper School faculty member Dion Crushshon ’88. Blake students Lucy Burton ’17, Raye Gleekel ’17, Isabel Hall ’16, Libby Rickeman ’17 and Sophie Smith ’17 received support from the Carlson Family Foundation and Women’s Foundation of Minnesota to host an event featuring several presenters, including local law enforce-ment, the mother of a victim of sex trafficking, and a staff member from Brittany’s Place, a safe shelter for young girls. The event, held at the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis, raised more than $7,000 to support the care and services offered at Brittany’s Place.
ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT
HANDS-ON HISTORY The course Topics in Minnesota History debuted this fall at the Upper School. This project-based class kept students on the move with field trips and visits to local archives. Blake emeritus Rod Anderson led a tour of the milling district of Minneapolis, followed by a student-led tour highlighting the history of downtown St. Paul. The class visited Blake’s archives, the Minneapolis Central Library and the Minnesota State Historical Society, where students had the chance to touch relics, including student handbooks from Blake’s first years and documents from prohibition-era gangsters. Students honed their research and critical–thinking skills
through oral histories and interviews with local experts and historians.
FACES ON CAMPUS
VISITING COMPOSER IS OUT OF THIS WORLD An award-winning composer of music for stage, film and video games shared an inside look at the day-to-day work of his profession with stu-dents in Brian Olson’s Music Composition and Technology class. Karim Elmahmoudi, who is also a pilot, former aerospace engineer, Coast Guard certified skipper and scuba diver, composed the space travel-inspired Orbit: A Symphonic Fantasy, which plays at the California Sci-ence Center, where the Space Shuttle Endeavor resides.
Winter 2016 3
IN BRIEF
COMMUNITY
THANK YOU VETERANS The budding writers in Susie Jessop’s first grade class put their skills to good use on Veterans Day by writing thank you notes to service members. This is the second year Jes-sop has included the lesson as part of her first graders’ daily writer’s workshop. This year, she invited Blake communi-ty members to suggest friends and family members who might like to receive a note of gratitude. “[This lesson] is something I am proud of because the children enjoy learn-ing about veterans,” Jessop says. “It’s writing for a purpose, and, most importantly, I can only imagine the joy it brings to people when they receive the letters.”
ARTS HIGHLIGHT
THE LIVING LOOMThe Japanese weaving style SAORI follows four guiding principles: consider differences between machines and people; weave with a happy heart; explore with all your might; learn together as a group. Blake students are weaving with hap-py hearts following this year’s McGuire Visiting Artist residency with renowned SAORI weaver Chiaki O’Brien. During her visit, the Upper School’s Martha Bennett Gallery transformed into an interac-tive classroom with 11 looms for open use. A gallery show,
the Living Loom, showcased some of O’Brien’s own cre-ations in addition to those created by the Blake commu-nity during her residency and gave guests an opportunity to weave. Lower School art rooms also became interac-tive spaces with open looms on which Blake’s youngest students studied patterns, textiles and how to use small pieces to build larger ones. As part of O’Brien’s residency, Blake invested in two SAORI looms, and plans are under-way to purchase a third so that one loom may reside per-manently on each campus.
ARTS HIGHLIGHT
TUNNEL VISION Thanks to the artistic vision of Middle School art teacher Seexeng Lee and the talents of a group of Blake student-artists, the tunnel linking the Hopkins Lower School to the Middle School has been transformed into a work of art. A colorful mural of a tree and icons that represent all three of the school’s campuses now grac-es the once blank walls of the underground space. During Legacy Day, students and employees received a paper leaf to decorate with their name, personal messages and drawings before affixing it to the mural, which will serve as an ever-changing art installation.
AWARDS
BLAKE CLAIMS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE CHALLENGE CUP With 493 points earned during the 2014-15 school year, Blake claimed its fourth straight Minnesota State High School League Class AA Challenge Cup. Created in 2003 and sponsored by Wells Fargo, the Challenge Cup is a statewide competition among Minnesota high schools. Points are awarded to schools based on their success in section and state fine arts and athletic tournaments. The school earning the most points at the end of the year in each classification — Class A, Class AA and Class AAA — receives the traveling Challenge Cup. Blake first won the cup in 2005, going on to win again in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014. This year’s title puts Blake in the lead for most overall Challenge Cup wins.
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IN BRIEF
FACES ON CAMPUS
CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITER ENCOURAGES SECOND GRADERS TO FIND THE AUTHOR WITHIN Few things compare to story time with a favorite book, and nothing compares to hearing that book read aloud by the author herself. Blake’s second graders thrilled to just such an experience when Annie Barrows, author of the popular children’s book series “Ivy and Bean,” visited their classroom to read from her books and talk with them about being an author, the craft of writing, and how Ivy and Bean came into being.
SERVICE
FAMILY COMMUNITY SERVICE WITH NATURE CONSERVANCY Weaver Dunes, a preserve maintained by the Nature Conservancy that lies along the Mississippi River near Kellogg, Minnesota, features a variety of vegetation and majestic sand dunes of 30 feet. This fall, Blake community members had the opportunity to take a guided hike of the area to look for tur-
tles, grassland birds, butter-flies, waterfowl and raptors. The group also collected seeds for the Nature Conser-vancy to replant at other sites to restore the land back to native prairie.
PROGRAM
NEW VIDEO SERIES SHOWS SLICE OF LIFE AT BLAKEBlake launched a new video series, Life at Blake, which offers a glimpse into the experiences that set the school apart. The three- minute video clips can be viewed at bit.ly/blakevideos and on Blake’s social media channels. The first three videos highlight the Lower School Spanish program, a Middle School World War II memorial project and the Upper School elective Global Theories, Local Realities.
FACES ON CAMPUS
KENYAN BOYS CHOIR BRINGS UPPER SCHOOL TO ITS FEETThe Kenyan Boys Choir, a group that gained widespread recognition after performing at Barack Obama’s second inauguration, had the entire Upper School student body up and dancing during an exclusive concert in the Juliet Nelson Auditorium. The choir, which performs traditional Maasai and Samburu chants as well as contemporary African and European classical pieces, came to Blake in advance of an appearance at We Day, a celebration during which 18,000 gathered to recognize youth making a difference
locally and globally. Blake was selected for this special pre-event performance because of its efforts as a leading service learning school.
COMMUNITY
HIGHCROFT FUNK Lower School music teacher Woody Woodward and his super student singers made the most of Funky Friday.
SERVICE
LEGACY DAY TURNS 10Blake’s annual school-wide event Legacy Day celebrated its 10th anniversary this
fall. 1,459 students, employees, alumni and parent volunteers gathered on the
Hopkins campus. In groups, they worked on one of 3 service activities during which
they packaged 65,448 meals for Impact Live Global Hunger Project,
boxed 2,800 MatterBoxes containing nutritious food for Minnesota families
in need and made 160 fleece blankets for local outreach organizations.
Winter 2016 5
ARCHIVES
20th Century Computing “The computer age has hit Blake,” declared the 1984 Reflections yearbook in a section devoted to the “Technology Age.” At the time, Blake’s Upper and Middle Schools had a combined total of 20 computers, which were used by students for writing programs, playing games and, for juniors and seniors, practicing for the SAT. The following year, Blake hired Tom Bretl as the school’s first computer coordinator, tasked with raising awareness about the computer’s potential as an educational tool and supporting teachers and students in all grades. Integration took hold gradually. When Blake introduced its first Macintosh computers in 1989, the use of technology in curriculum was minimal. In 1994, Blake’s technological program took a giant leap forward with the creation of “Virtual Blake,” a name coined by Head of School Ty Tingley for a network that connected the three campuses and linked the school to the Internet. Tingley got conceptual assistance from Bretl and then hired network manager Kent Ritchie ’88 to implement his vision. Today, the school owns 1,486 computers and 279 devices, such as tablets and Chromebooks. Technology has become fundamental to nearly every aspect of teaching and learning. “Yes, computers are now an integral part of Blake,” the 1984 Reflections concluded. “In the future, one can expect them to be used even more extensively with many more applications.” Indeed.
Portions of this article were taken from “Expecting Good Things of All: 100 Years of Academic Excellence” by Janet Woolman.
IN BRIEF
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Winter 2016 7
TOGETHER IN HEALTH
Written by Lori L. FergusonIllustrated by Owen Davey
COVER STORY
DZIWE NTABA ’90
In March 2014, the first cases of Ebola were reported in the West African country of Guinea. The disease quickly spread across borders to the neighboring countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia, and within months the World Health Organization declared the outbreak the largest and most complex since the virus was originally discovered in 1976. As he has many times before, responding physician Dr. Dziwe Ntaba drew on the power of community for solutions.
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A n emergency medicine physician with significant experience in
global health initiatives, Dziwe (“Zee-way”) Ntaba was working as an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University when the Ebola crisis began to spiral out of control. He quickly decided to get involved. “It didn’t take long to realize that I just had to go,” Ntaba recalls. “I understood the community perspective. I spoke the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] language, and I understood a little of the political dynamics and operational challenges of working in countries like Liberia.” The physician’s insights were borne of first-hand experience on the continent, first in Southeast Africa in his childhood home of Malawi and later in the East African country of Burundi, where he worked with his friend Deogratias “Deo” Niyizonkiza to co-found the nonprofit organiza-tion Village Health Works, which he continues to support as chief medical officer.
AN UNEXPECTED CALLING Ntaba was born in upstate New York, the son of an American mother and a Malawian father. His parents met when his father, Hetherwick Ntaba, came to the U.S. to attend college and medical school. When Ntaba was still an infant, the family returned to Malawi where his father was eventually appointed the country’s minister of health. Ntaba remained in Africa until age 8, when he traveled back to the U.S. with his mother and enrolled at Blake. Despite his father’s commitment to medicine — the senior Ntaba has enjoyed a long career in the public health sector — Dziwe originally felt no desire to follow in his footsteps. “My father worked so hard and his job was so all-consuming that I was pretty sure I didn’t want any part of medicine,” he recalls. But as Ntaba matured and the burgeoning HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa grew, he began to feel the pull to help. At Macalester College, Ntaba began taking pre-med classes, discov-ered that he liked science, and before long he, too, was on track
for a career in medicine. He earned his M.D. from Oregon Health and Science University, followed by an M.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health. It was there, on September 11, 2001 — the first day of public health school orientation and also the fateful day of the terrorist attacks — that Ntaba first met fellow classmate Deo Niyizonkiza. A native of Burundi and survivor of the genocide that tore through that country and neighboring Rwanda in 1994, Niyizonkiza’s story is chronicled in Tracy Kidder’s 2009 book Strength in What Remains. On 9-11, Niyizonkiza joined other Harvard classmates in sharing his pain and shock at the attacks and the traumatic personal memories they revived. He and Ntaba soon became close friends. Niyizonkiza subsequently returned to Burundi and, in 2006, invited Ntaba and several others to see the work he had undertaken to help the commu-nity build a hospital in Kigutu. The timing was perfect. Ntaba had just completed his clinical training in emergency medicine,
and the genocidal civil war in Burundi was finally drawing to a close. Once in-country, Ntaba quickly realized that here was an arena in which he could make a difference. “Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the health care system is very fragile,” he explains. “The need for better health care is something that everyone can agree on; it can be a unifying aspiration, especially in a war-torn country like Burundi.” Ntaba immediately signed on to help. A VIRTUOUS CYCLE The Kigutu clinic opened in 2007, and for the next three years Ntaba served as the medical director. He invested a great deal of time and energy in the clinic. Yet he underscores that it was members of the community, led by Niyizonkiza, who made their dreams a reality. “The communi-ty came together to build the clinic — residents got to know their former enemies and set aside their differences with the realization that everyone needed, and wanted, better health care.” From the outset, communi-
Winter 2016 9
ty drove the creation of what is today known as the Sharon McKenna Community Health Center. Village volunteers were generous with their time and resources, demonstrating their commitment by donating the 25 acres of land where the clinic sits, making bricks, planting crops and building an access road all by hand. Niyizonkiza and his team responded in kind, structuring the clinic according to the villagers’ needs. The community’s dedica-tion so moved Niyizonkiza and his cohort of American volunteers that they decided to form a nonprofit, Village Health Works, to further support the community’s initiatives. They sought guidance from mentors including renowned anthropolo-gist and physician Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, a global organization that provides health care to communities in need. Village Health Works took root and continues to grow and flourish today.
“We witnessed the develop-ment of a virtuous cycle,” Ntaba observes. “When we began, the community essentially had no health care, and conditions were abysmal. Infant mortality was high. The risk of death during pregnancy was extreme, and diseases like HIV and TB were
going untreated. Once basic health needs were met, however, we witnessed a profound paradigm shift. Residents moved from a fatalistic perspective focused on day-to-day survival to a desire to invest in their
children and, by extension, their community.” People began the push to address issues such as malnutrition and food security, says Ntaba, which in turn led to a desire to address the issue of poverty through economic devel-opment initiatives. “Then they said, ‘We need to educate our
children,’” Ntaba recalls. “So we built a primary school right next to the clinic and began to develop after-school programs as well as early childhood development and Pre-K education initiatives. Through-
out our journey, the communi-ty’s involvement has been integral — they are the constant driving force behind this success.” A CHANGE FROM WITHIN The power of community is a familiar leitmotif for Ntaba, and it came into play once again when he decided to travel to Liberia with the International Medical Corps (IMC) in Novem-ber 2014 to join the fight against Ebola. Ntaba was charged with the implementation and strategic expansion of IMC’s training program as part of the Ebola emergency response, overseeing the training of national and international personnel. “For the bulk of my time in Burundi, I felt like I was learning much more than I was teaching,” Ntaba observes, “and my time in Liberia made it even more apparent to me: community involvement is the lynchpin in effecting significant change in health care. Outsiders can offer training and assistance in the technical aspect of delivering
Dziwe Ntaba ’90
“OUTSIDERS CAN OFFER TRAINING AND ASSISTANCE IN THE TECHNICAL ASPECT OF DELIVERING CARE. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO
REALIZING THE BEHAVIORAL CHANGES THAT AFFECT OUTCOMES, COMMUNITY ENGAGE-MENT IS AN ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL, AND
OFTENTIMES MISSING, INGREDIENT.”
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care. But when it comes to realizing the behavioral changes that affect outcomes, communi-ty engagement is an absolutely essential, and oftentimes missing, ingredient.” The Ebola virus was something of a novelty in the region, and early public health information was not particularly helpful. “Early public health announcements mistakenly placed a heavy emphasis on avoiding bats,” Ntaba says,
“advice that distracted from the dynamics of disease transmis-sion and only confused an already skeptical population. Add to that the fact that many residents already harbored distrust of their own govern-ment and of outsiders, and things got complicated quickly.” Health care workers began arriving dressed in “space suits” — the gear that protected them from infection — spraying chemicals and collecting
patients who would mostly never be seen or heard from again. According to local lore, people with supernatural powers such as witch doctors and traditional healers wore masks, so health care workers in protective gear were quickly identified as body snatchers. Fear and misinformation ran rampant, then evolved into anger and hysteria. In one instance, a team of local health care workers in Guinea was
killed by villagers using machet-es and clubs. The myth machine was fully engaged, Ntaba observes, and the best way to short circuit the destructive cycle was to engage the commu-nity. “We began training rapid response teams on professional community entry, which started with respectfully approaching village leaders to explain who we were, why we were there and how we could help,” Ntaba says.
“THE MYTH MACHINE WAS FULLY ENGAGED, AND THE BEST WAY TO SHORT CIRCUIT THE DESTRUCTIVE CYCLE WAS TO ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY.”
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“They, in turn, helped gain the consent of the larger community so that the response teams could do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. Responders started arriving in villages in their street clothes, accompa-nied by a social worker, and suited up in front of residents so they understood it was a human being inside the protective suit.” After this, health workers could leverage the newfound connec-tions with the community to educate residents on protecting themselves during the outbreak. With these new measures implemented, the tide of the epidemic began to turn. This approach also led local government to create communi-ty-led burial teams during the outbreak. It’s generally difficult for just anyone to contract Ebola, Ntaba explains. The deadly virus spreads only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a sick patient, thus placing unprotected health workers and family caregivers of Ebola patients at the greatest risk. The issue is further complicated in Liberia, where venerated local traditions entail a process of cleansing the body before burial — ripe conditions for spreading the virus, as the
infected individual is most contagious around the time of death. “It’s difficult to change people’s beliefs around genera-tions-long burial practices,” Ntaba observes. “Rather than trying to dissuade family members from preparing their loved ones for burial, we trained them to do so safely, which finally helped break the chain of transmission.” In December, Ntaba returned to his work as an emergency room physician in New York City, excited to see patients again and gratified to witness lessons learned in Africa motivating change in the U.S. He offers the growing trend of community health worker initiatives as a case in point. Piloted in developing countries, these initiatives connect a marginalized patient — someone who lives in a remote location, perhaps, or has low health literacy — with a community health worker who interacts with the patient regularly to ensure that he or she understands the prescription regimen, takes medication regularly, follows up with appointments, etc. This “power of accompaniment” for patients with complex health problems
in resource-limited environ-ments has proved remarkably effective. And similar initiatives have been found to work equally well in resource-heavy settings like the U.S., Ntaba notes. For example, in New York City a number of hospitals have instituted a patient navigator program in which disadvantaged or traditionally marginalized patients are identified in the E.R. and assigned a trained peer who assists them in navigating the complex health care system. “These health partners gain credibility with the patient and achieve greater compliance with treatment plans, thereby helping us realize better patient outcomes and cost savings,” Ntaba says. “It’s the essence of patient-centered medicine.” “Everything I’ve learned over the last decade points to the transformative power of community-led interventions and initiatives,” Ntaba continues. “Priorities differ from one community to the next — one community is focused on health concerns while another may be primed to address educational issues — but no matter where you are, it’s easier to realize success if you work with priorities that have already
been locally identified. Looking forward, Ntaba sees tremendous opportunities for global health. “The number of people living in extreme poverty around the world has fallen by more than half in less than 25 years. At the same time, infant mortality rates have been reduced by more than half, which has been accompanied by a stunning drop in birth rates worldwide,” he says. “Our prospects for improving global health are great; the challenge lies in building upon what we’ve learned through effective implementation. In my experi-ence, the key ingredient for success is meaningful communi-ty engagement. I’ve seen it work. I know what can happen when a community comes together, and I’m tremendously optimistic about the future.” Lori L. Ferguson (writerloriferguson.com) is a freelance writer based in New Hampshire. She enjoys writing on lifestyle and human interest topics as well as all things artistic.
“OUR PROSPECTS FOR IMPROVING GLOBAL HEALTH ARE GREAT; THE
CHALLENGE LIES IN BUILDING UPON WHAT WE’VE LEARNED THROUGH EFFECTIVE
IMPLEMENTATION. IN MY EXPERIENCE, THE KEY INGREDIENT FOR SUCCESS
IS MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.”
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IN PHOTOS
BLAKE’S 2015-16 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS DISCOVER A
NEW WORLDPhotos by Murphy Byrne
Winter 2016 13
Trinh Nguyen of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Cristina Luzón Borobio of Zaragoza, Spain, explore new cultures, customs and activities as they spend their high school sophomore year at the Upper School. In the past four decades, Blake has welcomed more than 200 international students from countries around the globe.
BLAKE’S 2015-16 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS DISCOVER A
NEW WORLD
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Winter 2016 15
Home Away From Home (Opposite page, at top) Dana Anderson and Bill Ward and their daughter, Amanda Ward ’21, host LuzÓn Borobio for the fall semester. (At bottom) Nguyen works on her laptop as her host parents, Paul Terrizzi and Megan Rounds, take a break from dinner prep to watch daughter Kaian Terrizzi Rounds ’25 perform. (This page, top left to bottom right) Nguyen finds humor in a class discussion. LuzÓn Borobio with fellow Blake sophomores at We Day, a celebration of youth making a difference in local and global communities. Learning to make lefse, a traditional Norwegian dish. Nguyen in the doorway to her bedroom (with artwork by her host sister). LuzÓn Borobio plays in a varsity basketball game. Nguyen with her Blake soccer team (photo by Lauren Kiesel).
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ASK FOOD ENTREPRENEUR MICHELLE HOROVITZ ’98 AND SHE’LL TELL YOU, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY COOKS IN THE KITCHEN.
Q&A
APPETITE FOR CHANGE
As co-founder and executive director of Appetite For Change (AFC), a nonprofit dedicated to making healthy food more accessible for north Minneapolis families, Horovitz measures her organization’s success by the growing community ownership of the real-food movement.
Question: What excites you most about your work?Answer: The youth energy and the youth leadership. Young people seeing the value of eating better and economic development around food.
Q: Explain the connection between food and economic development.A: AFC trains and employs north Minneapolis youth through our restaurant, Breaking Bread Cafe and Catering. They gain job skills in culinary arts, hospitality and food service management and lots of other transferable life skills. Through this, AFC earns income to support its programs. At the same time, the products and services we’re putting out — locally grown food, made-from-scratch food, increasing access to food, building community, strengthening relationships and
Phot
o by
Mur
phy
Byrn
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“FOR ME, THE MEASUREMENT OF SUCCESS IS HOW MANY PEOPLE WE
CAN EMPLOY, HOW MANY YOUTH WE CAN TRAIN AS LEADERS AND HOW
MUCH COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP THERE IS OVER THE MOVEMENT.”
families around food — are our bottom line.
Q: AFC is essentially leading a movement to change the way people think about food and the ways it can better lives. How do you measure success and not get overwhelmed by the enormity of the goal?A: For me, the measurement of success is how many people we can employ, how many youth we can train as leaders and how much community ownership there is over the movement. So often with movements, social justice or social services, the typical model is people from outside the community come in and help, lift up, empower. I think the true key to success and to impacting generational poverty is when the people in the communities most affected by the issues are the ones leading the change, creating, implementing and evaluating the programs and communicating the results.
Q: Since co-founding AFC in 2011, what have been some challenges?
A: The misperception about north Minneapolis or the perception that people don’t know what healthy food is or don’t want healthy food or aren’t willing to spend money on healthy food. Yes, there’s some of that in every community, but I think people make a lot of assumptions, especially those who have never had relationships or interactions with people from this community. Another challenge is that we’re growing very fast and are limited by our capacity. We just hired an office manager this year. We have a 20-hour-a-week bookkeeper. We have nobody doing HR, nobody doing marketing and communications. It’s all of us doing a little bit of all of those things because we have to.
Q: You have worked as a cook and assistant pastry chef, but before that you were a public defender in Miami-Dade County. How did this experience inform the work you’re doing today to build racial and social equity in north Minneapolis?
A: I think that it was a great experience, eye-opening. It fueled my passion for racial and social justice, but I couldn’t be a part of it any more. I had a really hard time with how broken the system is. I was literally the last person to be able to help protect against injustice. I felt like my impact on humanity and on the social justice field could be more upstream. Q: How do you see AFC evolving?A: I would like to see us grow our youth training and employment program and model ourselves after national groups that have had a lot of success (DC Central Kitchen, Liberty’s Kitchen in New Orleans, L.A. Kitchen). I think in the next five to 10 years you’ll see us scale up our workforce development model in a way that puts out more real food, more healthy food, into communities that need it. Q: Where did your passion for food begin?A: I started loving food at a very early age. Being a third
child with older siblings who were very engaged in after-school activities and having two working parents, sometimes it was just easier to cook for myself. I never wanted to just grab a granola bar; I always wanted to make something. I think cooking is just a great therapeutic thing. And now that I’m a mom, it’s a great way for me to connect and bond with my kids.
Q: What’s your favorite meal to prepare for others?A: That is really difficult because it changes all the time. I would say right now my favorite meal to prepare is Southeast Asian and Indian food. I love working with those flavors and spices. I do this baked tofu that has the consistency of a fried tofu — crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle. I love dabbling in things that I have no experience in cooking. And I also love desserts.
Do you know Blake alumni who are doing interesting work? Let us know at [email protected].
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IN PRINT& PRODUCTION
AMES SHELDON ’66
Eleanor’s Wars (Beaver’s Pond Press)
It’s 1942 and the globe is aflame. Eleanor Sutton, matriarch of a prosperous New Jersey family, struggles to fight the war on the home front when
long-buried memories come to light, upending the Sutton household. Set against the historical backdrop of World War II, Eleanor’s Wars chronicles the personal battles of one heroic woman in a rapidly changing world and explores a timeless, universal subject: the insidious power of family secrets to shape lives and alter destinies.
ANNIE SUNDbERG ’86
In My Father’s House (Break Thru Films, Showtime)
In My Father’s House explores identity and legacy in the African-American family, as Grammy award-winning
rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith and his long-lost father, Brian, reconnect and try to build a new future in Chicago’s turbulent South Side. A heartbreaking story of violence, addiction, loss and ultimately self-discovery, In My Father’s House tracks Che and Brian’s shared journey to create a new legacy for themselves, their community and the next generation of family.
JONATHAN EbEL ’88
G.I. Messiahs: Soldiering, War and American Civil Religion(Yale University Press)
Jonathan Ebel has long been interested in how
religion helps individuals and communities render meaningful the traumatic experiences of violence and war. In this new work, he examines cases from the Great War to the present day and argues that our notions of what it means to be an American soldier are not just strongly religious, but strongly Christian.
MICHAEL OLSON ’01 OF LAKE STREET DIVE
Side Pony (Nonesuch Records)
A “side pony,” the hairstyle that gives Lake Street Dive’s
Nonesuch Records debut album its name, is a metaphor for the group’s philosophy and personality as a band, one that seamlessly incorporates R&B, pop, ’60s-era rock and soul into a unique, dance-party-ready mix. For listeners familiar with Lake Street Dive, Side Pony is a natural evolution of the band’s sound.
Harrison Bloom ’64 Get Up and Move Your A**!: A Light-Hearted but Serious Guide to Successful Aging (Booklocker.com)
Geriatricians Drs. Harrison and Patricia Bloom offer their expert advice to maximize the potential for successful aging. Written in verse and illustrated by award-winning cartoonist Isabella Bannerman, this entertaining guide covers the spectrum of physical and mental activity, social and spiritual engagement, good nutrition and healthy behaviors to inspire action in adults of all ages.
Chan Poling ’75 Glensheen (History Theatre) Glensheen, a musical about the 1977 murders of heiress Elisabeth Congdon and her nurse Velma Pietila in Duluth’s Glensheen mansion, debuted this fall at the History Theatre in St. Paul, Minn. Written by Jeffrey Hatcher with music and lyrics by Chan Poling, Glensheen opened to rave reviews with the Pioneer Press declaring, “... for those of us just looking for a ripping tale well told, Glensheen checks all the right boxes and more than fits the bill.”
Alumni are encouraged to inform Blake of their publications, recordings, films, etc., and, when possible, to send copies of books and articles. Contact us at [email protected].
Winter 2016 19
24 Marion Ashley Hunter turned 110 years old on
September 27. In doing so, she joins an elite group of only 49 living supercentenarians across the globe. The Star Tribune ran a story about Marion on her monu-mental milestone birthday.
43 In November, Mary Lee Lowe Dayton was posthumously
honored with the Outstanding Legacy Award by the Minnesota Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Noted as a “civic lioness” by the Star Tribune, Mary Lee spent her entire life serving as a community leader and philanthropist who empow-ered women and girls, improved education and protected the environment.
REUNION
46 Caroline Hanson Rohrbach’s husband, John, died on August
24, just after his 92nd birthday. She writes, “His final days were at the Duncaster retirement community, which he started in 1982 in Bloomfield, Connecticut. It has become a very successful community, bringing residents
from many areas of the country. We were married 66 years. I was very fortunate.”
50 Bill Berghuis is still spending time at the investment firm he
started 23 years ago in Toronto. He supports the ongoing education of family through his grandchildren who attend Bates College (1), Duke University (2), Princeton University (1), Tufts University (1) and inde-pendent schools in New York City and Toronto (3).
REUNION
51 Paul Hommeyer writes, “After we thought that Blake was
a distant memory, two grandsons, Gustave and Henry Hommeyer, started Blake Pre-K in September.”
52 Angus Wurtele and Margaret Von Blon Wurtele ’63 were
named this year’s Outstanding Individual Philanthropists by the Minnesota Chapter of the Associa-tion of Fundraising Professionals. The Wurteles have a long history of philanthropic support and have made a notable local impact in the arts, as well as giving generously to education, environmental causes
and social services. They were honored during a National Philan-thropy Day celebration in St. Paul in November.
54 Phil Larson’s article about the hockey team he and Charlie
Silverson started in the 1960s was published in the Edina Historical Society newsletter. Teammates on the Edina Lions included fellow Blake alumni Pete Van Dusen, Angus Wurtele ’52 and Dave Crosby ’58 and former Blake teacher and hockey coach Rod Anderson.
REUNION
61 Pete Weiser, a founding member of the Poore Free
Medical and Dental Clinics, was elected president of the organi-zation’s board of directors. The Poore Free Medical and Dental Clinics provides treatment to the working poor and uninsured patients in Flagstaff, Arizona. As a volunteer clinician, Dr. Weiser is the only free psychiatrist in the state of Arizona. He writes that he continues his political efforts by supporting politicians who advocate for universal health care for all Americans.
62 Burr Friedlund retired from his role as a financial advisor
with Morgan Stanley in September 2012. He plays golf three times a week and sings in the choir of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in San Diego.
63 Mark Burns and his wife, Michele, visited Alaska this summer.
He writes, “Highlights included kayaking on Beyers Lake outside Denali National Park, flightseeing over Mount Denali on a clear day, staying at the National Park Service (NPS) lodge at Glacier Bay National Park, traveling to Margerie Glacier on the NPS day boat to whale watch by kayak, visiting Brooks Falls by float plane and watching the bears fish for salmon. We are planning our next trip to Alaska, perhaps a fly-in fishing trip!”
64 Harrison Bloom and his wife of 44 years, Patricia, live in
Hastings-On-Hudson, New York, where they enjoy canoeing on the Hudson River. Both of their children are married, have one child and live in the California Bay area. Their daughter’s second child was due in January. (Also see In Print & Production)
Class notes and photos received after November 2015 will appear in the next issue of Cyrus. Notes are provided by alumni or their friends and family, and some have been edited for length and style.
CLASS NOTES
20 Cyrus
Rob Oglansky Cagen and his wife, Anne, have sold their business after 24 years in the same location. He writes, “It was a fascinating ride and supported the family for those years. We are trying to cope with the lack of organization in our lives but find it to be way less stressful than being entrepreneurs. We have two empty bedrooms waiting for those who want to come to Fort Collins to check out the scene: 18 breweries, five distilleries, two cideries and a dozen dispensaries. And then there are the Rocky Mountains for camping, hunting, climbing and hiking, and we have fishing at our back door. Throw in a vibrant music scene and a bicy-cle-centric culture and what more could you ask for?”
REUNION
66 Ames Sheldon (See In Print & Production)
70 In December, Marcia McNutt was nomi-nated by the Council
of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to become the next president of the NAS. She will be the first woman to head the government’s premier science advisory organization, which was
founded in 1863, when her term begins on July 1. Ric Schafer was recently inducted into the University of Alaska Fair-banks Athletic Hall of Fame, where he coached the school’s hockey team for seven seasons, starting with its debut as an NCAA program in 1980-81.
74 Claire Peeps is still living in Los Angeles, where she
is the director of the Durfee Foundation, an organization that provides leadership support to nonprofit and public sector innovators in the L.A. region. She was recently named the 2015 Outstanding Adjunct Professor of the Year by the Price School of Public Policy at USC, where she teaches part time in the grad-uate school. She is also a senior fellow at UCLA and was recently appointed president of the Los Angeles County Arts Commis-sion. When she’s not working, she loves puttering in her rose garden and spending time with her artist-husband, Nathan, and their two kids, Zoe and Aidan. Zoe recently graduated from college and is working in a cardiology lab at UCLA while
KIRK NELSON ’62 WEARS HIS AMERICAN LEGION UNIFORM WITH PRIDE.
THE bLAKE CLASS OF 1960 CELEbRATED ITS 55TH REUNION AT CLASSMATE RAY MITHUN’S HOME. PICTURED, L TO R: TOM SIMENSEN, JIM RANKIN ’59, HARRY RANDOLPH, MANCEL MITCHELL, DAVE SKRAMSTAD, RAY MITHUN AND JACK KUEHN.
From Page to Stage
Polly Case Grose’s writing career began when she decided to create a neighborhood newspaper. “I had received a typewriter as a gift. I remember it had wonderful red keys,” she says while retelling the launch of her World War II-era publication. “I’ve always loved expressing myself on paper.” She was 9 years old at the time. As an adult, Grose ’50 continued to write stories that were in some way close to home. Three books trace her Quaker ancestors’ 200-year journey from England to Minneapolis. She later wrote a memoir detailing 20 years of her life in London. In 2013, she edited a compilation of essays and photographs that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Guthrie Theater. Grose has long been involved with Minneapolis’s famed Guthrie, serving as the first female chair of the theater’s foundation board from 1972 until 1975, when she became director of development. Grose
has also served on the boards of the St. Paul Companies and Tonka Corporation, and worked for both the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and as a member of the Fulbright Commission in London. As a lifetime member of the Guthrie’s board of directors, Grose serves on several committees. It’s a relationship that has inspired her more recent work as a playwright. Her fourth play, Whistle Cabaret, tells the story of two sisters who are the victims of sex trafficking. Grose is working with Normandale Community College to workshop the piece and host a public reading. Grose says she wrote the play to continue to raise awareness of sex trafficking. She hopes audiences will be inspired to support the elected officials and community organizations committed to helping vulnerable girls and women. She sees theater as a compelling medium for effecting change. “The art form of theater is a unique and powerful way to explore social issues and to provoke the audience to take action, to work toward resolution,” she says. “The power of dialogue and the strong connection actors have with the audience — these things drive my writing.”
Learn more about Grose’s work at www.pollygrose.com.
CLASS NOTES
JACK MITHUN ’55 AND HIS WIFE, MERCEDES, SPENT TIME IN JULY AT THE FIREHOLE RANCH IN WYOMING, WHERE THEY WENT TROUT FISHING ON THE MADISON RIVER.
AS HAS bECOME TRADITION, CLASS OF 1960 ALUMNAE ANN bRIGGS TIMM, bONNIE OWENS DEARDORFF, PENNY CHISHOLM DEUPREE AND LINDA LACK WHITE (PICTURED, L TO R) CELEbRATED THEIR “FALL, FUN, FRIENDS” GET-TOGETHER AGAIN THIS YEAR.
Winter 2016 21
MARK bURNS ’63 KAYAKS ON bEYERS LAKE OUTSIDE DENALI NATIONAL PARK DURING HIS SUMMER TRIP TO ALASKA.
she applies to medical school. Son Aidan will graduate from high school this spring and is awaiting news about where he might be going to college. She writes, “It has been such fun to reconnect with classmates through Facebook. I look forward to connecting in person in the coming months. I’m planning a trip for the spring. Hope to see you all! And if you’re in L.A., give me a jingle. I’d be happy to show you a few of our favorite L.A. spots.”
75 Keith Fussy has been in radio since 1979. He can be
heard mornings on Classic Hits 94.7 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, under his on-air name, Keith Carr. Chan Poling (See In Print & Production)
78 For more than 30 years, Scott Struthers has
enjoyed channeling his energy into successful enterprises, including Sonance, the first hi-fi speaker company, and Strut, which designs customized grilles and accessories for select
high-end vehicles. He writes, “I also love nature and the organi-zations that are working hard to preserve its beauty for future generations. The inventive methods being used by the Air Shepherd Initiative inspired me to align with Air Shepherd and to give of my time and expertise in an effort to save African wildlife. I live in Southern California with my beloved labradors. I enjoy spending time with my daughter and granddaughter. I am an avid cyclist and boater. I just went to Burning Man. Life is good.” REUNION
81 Bill Siegel’s docu-mentary “The Trials of Muhammad Ali”
won the Emmy for Historical-Long Form. The film was nominated for three Emmys including Best Documentary.
82 Scott Forbes sends the following class update:
“Finn-Olaf Jones reports that he is the proud owner of the Missile Command high score on the Santa Monica Pier. ‘Go down and check out the score,’ he insists. I would, but it’s a long walk. In other news, Marko Schoeller is
getting married. Pete Silverson admits that he’s still baffled by Mr. Archibald’s algebra tests, and the rest of Blake’s Smartest Class is withholding information because they’re afraid I might use it against them. They’re right. I’ve got nothing better to do until the snow flies here in Colorado.”
83 Following a gathering with a few fellow 1983 Blake alumni,
Adam Chase penned a poem in honor of the evening: I think about what matters to me more than my goals. It’s a weakness in much of daily life, but a boon when you’re out on the town with some high school buds. A round table of 50 year olds in various states of health and decrepitude. Talking kids with pride and spouses with care. Business and pleasure and memories that leave us cackling as we close the joint. So fortunate after all these years to know what matters.
Libby Forbes Utter has been named executive director of the Gillette Children’s Foundation at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare. In this role, she will implement policy, manage the organization’s fundraising operations and represent the organization in the community. Her most recent position was vice president of development for Ronald McDonald House Chari-ties – Upper Midwest, where she increased emphasis on revenue growth, including major gifts, corporate gifts and community fundraisers. In previous positions, Libby led Forbes Utter, LLC, her own consulting firm, where she provided consulting for recruiting, marketing and strategic planning. She also served as president of Wood Executive Search, LLC, where she spearheaded business development, client management and search execution for national executive-level positions.
84 Kate Heegaard Hart-fiel writes, “Loved seeing my classmates
on my travels this summer and fall: Tori Bush Pajeski and Tina Rahr Lane in Great Barrington, Massa-chusetts, and Amy Myers Peters in Telluride, Colorado. At home: Joe
HARRISON bLOOM ’64 AND HIS WIFE, PATRICIA
CLASS NOTES
bLAKE CLASS OF 1966 FRIENDS (PICTURED, L TO R) DAVE bUSH, STEVE WILLIAMS, bILL ALLEN, TOM HEFFELFINGER, TOM HULL, ROLF TURNQUIST, PETER HITCH, SPENCE PETERSON AND JIM HORNIG ENJOY A SUMMERTIME GATHERING AT COV RESTAURANT IN WAYZATA.
22 Cyrus
McGovern visiting from Phoenix and Jenny Monick coming from Brooklyn and a visit to the amazing Finch Farm in Afton, Minnesota, courtesy of David Finch.” REUNION
86 Annie Sundberg (See In Print & Production)
88 Jon Ebel is an asso-ciate professor in the department of reli-
gion at the University of Illinois. He shares the sad news that his dad, David R. Ebel, died April 7, 2015, four months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was 74. (See also In Print & Production) This October, Libby Gray and her Adult 40 and Over 3.0 tennis team won the USTA National Champion-ship in Tucson, Arizona. The team, based in Louisville, Kentucky, won the state championship in July and the sectional tournament in Ashe-ville, North Carolina, in August to qualify. There are approximately 20,000 players nationally who competed in this tournament.
90 Jon Kirsch is an assistant professor in the Department of
Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota, where he teaches students who care for hospitalized patients at the university hospital. He also designed a course to introduce medical residents to the health needs of immigrants in the residents’ own communities by bringing students out to migrant farmworker camps served by mobile clinics.
94 Erik Hanson died August 16, after a long battle with
mental illness. His sister, Jennifer Hanson ʼ93, writes, “Erik was a lifer at Blake, starting with Miss Neff’s kindergarten class. Like everyone in the Blake community, he felt known and appreciated by his teachers, particularly Mr. Koenig, Mr. Larsen, Ms. Gibbon, Mr. Olsen, Mr. Teslow and Mr. Woolman. Erik loved science, but his creativity showed in music and the arts; he was the co-president of Blaker’s Dozen and editor of the Spectrum newspaper. Since his illness developed his freshman year at Harvard, Erik’s best times and memories were of his child-hood and youth at Blake.” Scott Nelson is currently the head of North America for Viber, a
mobile messaging app with over 600 million users. He also is founder of two other successful start-ups: the men’s lifestyle site hipdaddy.com and an on-demand personal storage concierge service, cuqiq.me. Scott and his three boys currently reside in Boston’s Back Bay.
95 Nayana Jha is back in the Twin Cities after 20 years on the
East Coast, where she attended Wellesley and worked on Wall Street. “I was working in banking in NYC during both September 11, 2001, and the Lehman Brothers crash and the following economic downturn. My beloved father’s passing around that time was a momentous wake-up call for me, and I chose to change directions in career and spend more time and energy on for-good initia-tives and my creative pursuits. I started showcasing my paintings and began an incredible journey as an artist/entrepreneur with a line of greeting cards and calendars (www.nayanajha.com) carried in NYC Whole Foods and other regional retailers.” Contact Nayana, who has joined Blake’s Institutional Advancement team, at [email protected].
98 Sovady Phe Huston welcomed son Nolan Arthur Phe Huston
on September 22. His big sister, Olivia, likes to call him Duck. Sovady enjoyed a “relaxing” leave through the holiday season, while husband Jeff continued to work at the software development firm, the Nerdery. The coming year will bring lots of traveling for family and fun, including Olivia’s first time on a snowboard.
99 Eric Dayton’s outdoor clothing company, Askov
Finlayson, has expanded into a new flagship location in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis. Over the past two years, Eric has been a leader of the North Movement, a campaign to claim a new identity for Minne-sota and the surrounding region as America’s North. And most recently, he’s used the sale of Askov Finlayson’s North products to help fund climate change education through a partnership called Keep the North Cold. You can learn more about these efforts and watch Eric’s recent TED talk on the North Movement at www.askovfinlayson.com/north.
CLASS NOTES
PETER RILEY HOSTED THE 45TH REUNION FOR THE CLASS OF 1970 IN HIS LAW OFFICES AT THE TOP OF THE IDS bUILDING IN DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLIS. PICTURED, L TO R: NAT RObbINS, JIM DORSEY, JOHN KUECHLE, JOE DOUGHTY, PETER RILEY, DICK THOMSON, TOM OWENS, bOb NUFFORT, SCOTT RYERSE, MARK LUTHER AND ED CHUTE.
STEVIE LAZO ’70, PRODUCTION ACCOUNTANT ON THE MOVIE LOVE THE COOPERS, SHARES A LAUGH WITH THE FILM’S STAR, DIANE KEATON.
RIC SCHAFER ’70
Winter 2016 23
Nick Swaggert received a 2015 Veterans’ Voices Award, which honors Minnesotans who have honorably served and are making extraordinary contributions to their communities. A veteran of the Marine Corps, Nick served since 1999 as an infantryman and was deployed twice to Iraq. He currently works in corporate and government affairs for Occam Group, a firm dedicated to hiring veterans to solve cyber security issues for corporations and govern-ment entities. He has coached and mentored over 500 veterans and placed over 100 veterans in new jobs.
00 Jessica Hartstein and Chip McCann were married in
Ireland in June. The two live in Houston, where Chip works for NASA and Jessica works at Certi-fied Translators and Interpreters. Vahe Ohanyan is a filmmaker, producer and a creative entrepre-neur based in New York and New Jersey. In 2010, he was nominated as a Young Laureate at the Rolex Awards for Enterprise and grad-uated from the EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) Euro-pean Producers Workshop. From 2007 to 2012 he worked on the
production of several documenta-ries and a short film, which were distributed by PBS, Al Jazeera International and NHK public TV in Tokyo, among others. The films traveled to festivals worldwide and received awards. Vahe writes, “I am still a member of the Armenian Federation of UNESCO Clubs, and I’m also the founding member of Theatre for Changes in Armenia. Besides my passion for films, traveling and meeting new people, I have served as account executive for National Geographic Traveler and had a crucial role in launching the local production of an interna-tionally known TV show, the Voice, while working at PanArmenian Media Group.”
REUNION
01 Maxine Kaye Bédat and Soraya Darabi, co-founders of online
retailer Zady, were named to Fortune’s “40 Under 40: Women to Watch” list. In November, the duo was also honored as Blake’s 2015 Young Alumnae of the Year, and Maxine spoke at the November Breakfast at Blake. Find her presentation on Blake’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/TheBlakeSchool.
SCOTT STRUTHERS ’78 AT bURNING MAN, AN ANNUAL EVENT HELD IN NEVADA’S bLACK ROCK DESERT
CLASS NOTES
SEVEN HOCKEY PLAYERS, THREE OF WHOM COACHED AT bLAKE, GATHERED FOR DINNER AND A GOPHER HOCKEY GAME AT MARIUCCI ARENA IN OCTObER. PICTURED IN FRONT OF THE HERb bROOKS DISPLAY (FRONT ROW, L TO R) JOHN CRAWFORD ’74, bObbY OWENS ’73 AND RIC DRILL-MELLUM ’75 (bACK ROW, L TO R) PETER VAUGHAN ’74, JIM NORTON ’74, CHUCK RITCHIE ’57 AND ROD ANDERSON.
LOREE bREN, DEREK MALMQUIST ’79, DAVE CRAWFORD ’79 (IN KAYAK), ANN SCHULZE, MARK SCHULZE ’79 AND JERRY bREN ’79 (PICTURED, L TO R) SPEND A SUMMER DAY PADDLEbOARDING AND KAYAKING ON LAKE OF THE ISLES IN MINNEAPOLIS.
Just To Give
When Mitch Goldstein ’79 fills up at the pump, he often spends more than the going price of fuel. For years, the Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, surgeon has read the fliers posted in small town gas stations promoting fundraisers for local residents who have fallen on hard times. And he donates what he can to the cause. “I just always wanted to give more than what I could give because I knew these families needed more,” Goldstein says. “I have seen firsthand how some medical conditions can take a toll on patients and their families. I don’t think physicians, and in general people, ever consider all the dynamics that go along with a terrible life-changing event.” Enter the Just To Give Foundation, a nonprofit Goldstein established to help people through life’s unexpected hardships. To fund his project, Goldstein plans to open restaurants and bagel shops around the Midwest with 100 percent of the profits going to help those in need. He intends to build the first business in Fargo-Moorhead
and reinvest a percentage of its profits into building others. “I would love to be able to help people in every state and every county and then move on internationally,” Goldstein says. “But for the immediate time being I would like to open up businesses in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin.” Goldstein, who has several years of experience in the restaurant business, is also consulting with industry experts. To launch the first restaurant, he has lined up a general manager who will be responsible for hiring the chefs, managers and staff as well as running the day-to-day operation. “I love being a surgeon and have no desire to stop practicing surgery,” Goldstein says. “This just happens to be an idea that came into my mind, and I want to see it through.”
For more information on the Just to Give Foundation, visit thejtgfoundation.org..
24 Cyrus
Michael Olson (See In Print & Production)
02 Alex Engler Morgan currently lives in Philadelphia with her
husband, Jonathan Morgan, and their son, Jordan Andrew Morgan, who was born on April 20, 2015. SPIN Magazine named A/J Jackson’s band, Saint Motel, one of the “Best Bets From Life Is Beau-tiful (LIB) Festival 2015,” an annual music, art and food festival held in downtown Las Vegas. Reviewer Rachel Brodsky noted, “If it was piano-pop troupe Saint Motel’s intent to make their audience leave the festival grounds with a smile on the final day of LIB, then let the record show that they succeeded.” Brothers Lawrence and Anders ’03 Hester have founded FareHarbor, the fastest growing reservation system in the activity and tour industry. FareHarbor was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s 25 Best Medium-Sized Company Cultures in 2015 list, which recognizes businesses that have successfully instilled a high-per-formance culture in their work-place. Companies were scored in 10 core categories — collaboration,
innovation, mission and value alignment, agility, communication, support, wellness, work environ-ment, responsibility and perfor-mance focus — on a scale of zero to 100. FareHarbor ranked number four with a score 95.66.
03 Robbie Massie attempted to summit Mount
Everest in April, but his efforts were cut short by an earthquake in Nepal that caused an avalanche on the mountain. He had reached 21,500 feet when conditions made it impossible to continue the climb. His experience is detailed in an October 28, 2015, article in City Pages.
REUNION
06 Isaac Anderson has returned to Blake as the new strength
and conditioning coach for the Athletics Office. Isaac played Division I football at the University of Wisconsin before competing in both the NFL and CFL. He has worked as a personal trainer in the Minneapolis area and has worked with a variety of clients, ranging from youth to Olympic athletes. Isaac is a certified fitness profes-sional with the National Exercise
CLASS NOTES
LIbbY FORbES UTTER ’83
LIbbY GRAY ’88 (bACK ROW, SECOND FROM RIGHT) AND HER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TENNIS TEAM
CLASS OF 1983 ALUMNI MEET SEMI-REGULARLY FOR LUNCH AT THE bIG TEN IN HOPKINS, MINNESOTA. PICTURED (FRONT ROW, L TO R) COLIN SCHMIDT, JEFF GOLDENbERG, SCOTT DUNCAN (bACK ROW, L TO R) WADE CLARKE ’82, JIM bEATTIE, NNAMDI OKORONKWO AND MARK MITCHELL.
Brand New
As a professional marketer, Ace Rice ’01 has promoted everything from an NBA franchise to major record labels to a multibillion dollar sportswear company. Now his focus has turned to a new brand: his own. PLOT exists both as a Minneapolis art gallery and a lifestyle brand. It’s a concept Rice worked on for three years before launching it in 2014 with two business partners and a team of managers. The gallery includes a variety of art forms. “We’re really not specific to a medium,” Rice says. “We use painting, photography, illustration, and we sell our own line of merchandise.” The “gallery merch” includes PLOTTING hats and T-shirts, and Rice expects the selection to expand. The brand’s name, an acronym for Pyramids Lined Our Territory, refers to the sense of land ownership going back to a time when kings and queens in Africa could step out and see a vast area they controlled. Rice explains
that when it comes to most street wear or culturally iconic brands “nine times out of 10 they are not owned by anyone of African-American descent or with any allegiance or liability to the people that help grow and push the movement.” While Rice has marketing experience in spades, he admits to being a newbie in the art gallery scene. “I don’t have a background in [ fine arts], didn’t go to school for it, but I do see great opportunities in the Twin Cities because we have such a great arts community,” Rice says. “For every young artist there needs to be someone equally intrigued to pay and support the art or artists.” And through PLOT, Rice plans to do just that.
To learn more, visit www.plotting.co.
Portions of this article were used with permission from Toki Wright and Insight News.
Phot
o by
Tok
i Wri
ght
Winter 2016 25
Trainers Association and National Strength and Conditioning Asso-ciation.
08 Kip Dooley co-wrote a play that premiered at the Minnesota
Fringe Festival last summer. “Everybody Wants You to Live” tells the story of four strangers who have been selected to be the focus of the media event of the century: a one-way mission to Mars. Kip is now pursuing work as an actor in the Twin Cities. He appeared in the Youth Performance Compa-ny’s production of “Eurydice” in January.
09 Jo-Dean Seymour married Joshua Roark on
September 6, 2015, at Hibiscus Lodge Hotel in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The couple lives in Los Angeles, California, where Jo-Dean is pursuing a career in television production and devel-opment and Josh is pursuing a teaching career.
10 Kinsey Allen moved to Kodiak, Alaska, where she is teaching
biology at Kodiak High School. She writes, “This is my first
teaching job and also my first time living outside of Minnesota, but I’m enjoying the job and the fact that I live in such a beautiful place!” Shaina Rud writes, “After finishing my English teaching position in Daegu, South Korea, through the Fulbright Program, I’m staying busy as a mental health coordi-nator at a nonprofit in Minne-apolis, working primarily with clients with schizophrenia, as well as attending school full time. This fall, I began pursuing a master’s degree in counseling psychology at the University of Minnesota. I also recently got engaged to a wonderful St. Olaf College alum. We’re planning a wedding for the summer of 2017. My life is fuller, richer and busier than I could have ever imagined when I graduated from Blake five years ago, and I am intensely aware that I have Blake to thank for the foundations, confi-dence and resources to pursue my dreams post-grad. (Patrick Barry, Jim Mahoney, Sara Kyle and Erin Adams — especially big thank yous to you all!) It’s been a great and fulfilling adventure thus far!”
REUNION
11 This fall, Ford Traff, a senior tri-captain for Trinity College men’s
tennis, advanced to the Intercol-legiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III New England Regional Doubles Championship Semifinals.
12 Lars King launched his first online course on public speaking
for millennials, which covers the fundamentals of successful public speaking, tips and tricks the best speakers use, tactics to overcome fear and actionable next steps to get out and start speaking. The course is led by younger people, for younger people. Sara Sheffels writes about her work as a summer research fellow in the art conservation lab at the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford Univer-sity. She contributes to Cross-Sec-tions, a student-run blog of the art conservation department.
13 Spoken word poet Asma Haidara Farah appeared on the
Arab/Muslim American TV show BelAhdan with Ahmed to discuss the role of poetry in Somali society.
Births & Adoptions Sovady Phe Huston ’98 a son, Nolan Arthur Phe, September 22, 2015
Jessica Randa Goldstein ’99 and Will Goldstein ’99 a daughter, Rose Helena, September 12, 2015
David Erickson ’02 and Kristen Migliori Erickson ’03 a daughter, Elizabeth Anne, August 2015
Alex Engler Morgan ’02 a son, Jordan Andrew, April 20, 2015
Katie Grudnowski Goldstein ’04 and Nick Goldstein ’04 a daughter, Charlotte Mary, July 8, 2015
Marriages Jessica Hartstein ’00 and Chip McCann, June 2015
Andrea Kay ’01 and Wes McFarland, August 8, 2015
Jo-Dean Seymour ’09 and Joshua Roark, September 6, 2015
Dorothy Bjork and Hans Koenig, October 3, 2015
CLASS NOTES
JESSICA HARTSTEIN ’00 MARRIED CHIP MCCANN IN IRELAND THIS PAST JUNE.
WILL ’99 AND JESSICA RANDA ’99 GOLDSTEIN WELCOMED THEIR THIRD CHILD, DAUGHTER ROSE HELENA, TO THE FAMILY ON SEPTEMbER 12. bIG bROTHER GUS AND SISTER LUCY ARE THRILLED.
VAHE OHANYAN ’00NOLAN ARTHUR PHE HUSTON AND HIS bIG SISTER, OLIVIA, ARE THE CHILDREN OF SOVADY PHE HUSTON ’98.
26 Cyrus
14 Lydia Sutton, captain of Canada’s U19 women’s lacrosse
team, helped her team win Cana-da’s first gold medal in the Federa-tion of International Lacrosse U19 World Championship, beating the United States 9 to 8.
15 Greg Lim is a freshmen at the Tepper School of Busi-
ness at Carnegie Mellon University. He writes, “Since coming to Carn-egie, I’ve picked up a couple new hobbies. Some of them include chess and bird watching. Carnegie Mellon has a very enthusiastic bird watching club, and I’ve really found a calling in it. I’ve pledged Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pennsylvania Phi chapter. I’ve explored downtown Pittsburgh with my new class-mates. It’s a great city, but not as much fun as Minneapolis.” Jaemarie Solyst interned this fall at Gazillion Strong, an organiza-tion dedicated to the development of resources and tools that aid marginalized communities, and also with Urban Arts Academy in Minneapolis. She is currently in her first year at Mount Holyoke College.
Former Faculty
This fall, former Blake Upper School French teacher Françoise Denis received the Order des Palmes Académiques, an Order of Chivalry of France that is awarded by an official of the French government to those who have rendered eminent service to French education and have contributed actively to the prestige of French language, literature and culture. This prized distinction acknowledges the recip-ient’s merits, talents and exemplary activities. In the case of Françoise, it is especially significant because she is Belgian, not a French citizen. Françoise is particularly known for her work in medieval studies, and her specialization is in French epics of the 12th and 13th centuries. Françoise was the Minnesota French Teacher of the Year in 2005-06. Nelly Blackburn Hewett, former Blake French teacher, continues to work with the personal papers of her parents, Magda and André, who were among the leaders of an effort in southeastern France during World War II to shelter and protect refugees who were escaping perse-cution by the Nazis. Nelly main-tains an active schedule, including selective visits to classrooms around the country to speak about her expe-riences growing up in Vichy
CLASS NOTES
Fish Tale
If anyone understands the value of arts in education, it’s architect Britta Wangstad ’08 (at left). At age 5, Wangstad and her fellow Blake pre-kindergartners hopped a bus to Minneapolis’ famed Sculpture Garden where they found themselves captivated by the 22-foot Standing Glass Fish by architect Frank Gehry (at right). The field trip inspired The Glass Fish Book, a compilation of sketches the students drew during their visit. Fast forward 20 years. Wangstad, who received her bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University, was back in Minneapolis working for her mentor Jim Dayton ’83 when she realized she wanted to experience a new city. Dayton introduced her to several of his colleagues in Los Angeles, where he had once worked for the world-renowned Gehry. Wangstad was offered a junior architect position with Gehry Partners and within four days was in Los Angeles to start her new job. Her copy of The Glass Fish Book, which Wangstad’s mother had saved all
these years, moved with her. She now keeps it in a folder on her desk, and Gehry has had the chance to see the book that his art inspired. “He was just delighted,” Wangstad says. “He started showing it to people around the office, including Turnaround Arts California Executive Director Malissa Feruzzi Shriver.” Turnaround Arts brings arts programs into struggling schools. The program is one that Gehry champions, along with other leading artists across the country. Gehry invited Wangstad to help with the project when they hosted students from Hoopa Valley, California, at their office and helped them create fish lamps. “At Blake, we are so fortunate that arts are incorporated into the very first student experiences and nurtured through middle and high school, with such great support from both faculty and alumni,” Wangstad says. “The value of this may not be as obvious as with other aspects of education, but the impact is absolutely profound and enduring.”
DAVID ERICKSON ’02 AND KRISTEN MIGLIORI ERICKSON ’03 WELCOMED THEIR DAUGHTER, ELIZAbETH ANNE, IN AUGUST 2015. THE FAMILY RESIDES IN EDINA, MINNESOTA.
ANDREA KAY ’01 MARRIED WES MCFARLAND ON AUGUST 8, 2015, AT CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH OF GOLDEN VALLEY. bRIGITTE ZIMMERMAN ’01 WAS ANDREA’S MAID OF HONOR, AND SARAH CARPENTER ’08 AND ELIZAbETH CARPENTER ’14 SERVED AS bRIDESMAIDS. ATTENDANTS INCLUDED JENNY FIELDS MAI ’01, SONIA FARbER ’01 AND SORAYA DARAbI ’01.
JORDAN ANDREW, THE SON OF ALEX ENGLER MORGAN ’02, WAS bORN APRIL 20, 2015.
Winter 2016 27
France. She especially enjoys oppor-tunities to reconnect with friends in the Blake community. Hans Koenig and Dorothy Bjork were married on October 3, 2015, in the home of close friends in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Ashley Bjork ’05 served as her mother’s maid-of-honor, and Dirk Koenig ’88 was his father’s best man. Mrs. Bjork taught mathematics in the Middle School (1980-2008). Mr. Koenig taught German, English, Latin and physical education in the Middle School (1974-2001) and coached soccer for 14 years. Both lost their spouses in 2010 and 2011, respec-tively. The couple lives in Edina, Minnesota.
In Memoriam Stephen Andrus ’37, September 17, 2015
Mary Cote Boos ’54, June 13, 2015
Pamela Van Dusen Carpenter ’54, September 18, 2015
Jeanette Clark Cox ’76, September 3, 2015
Cynthia Colwell ’56, June 6, 2015
Bruce Dayton ’36, November 13, 2015
Elizabeth Bennett Doyle ’49, November 23, 2015
David Duff ’46, July 5, 2015
Elizabeth Stevenson Dunnavan ’41, May 28, 2015
Clark Fletcher ’34, July 9, 2015
William Fisher, former faculty, November 6, 2015
William Fraley ’75, September 2015
Frederick Gamble ’45, former trustee, August 1, 2015
CLASS NOTES
Charles Hallman ’61, June 10, 2015
Erik Hanson ’94, August 16, 2015
Shepard Harder ’68, June 10, 2015
John Haugen ’56, August 24, 2015
Helen Archambo Hield ’51, September 16, 2015
Alan Hymes ’49, December 2015
Molly Noll Jacobs ’68, February 14, 2015
Robert Jacobsen ’57, August 31, 2015
Charles Johnson ’43, September 16, 2015
Alan Kremen ’64, June 13, 2015
Margaret Sivertsen Larson ’50, November 7, 2015
Nancy Wheeler Livingston ’40, October 2015
Sara Fletcher Luther-Neumaier ’36, February 3, 2015
Please inform the Institutional Advancement Office of Blake community member deaths by calling 952-988-3430 or by sending an email to [email protected].
JO-DEAN SEYMOUR ’09 MARRIED JOSHUA ROARK ON SEPTEMbER 6, 2015, AT HIbISCUS LODGE HOTEL IN OCHO RIOS, JAMAICA.
Anne Bowman McCourt ’45, October 5, 2015
Lincoln Mitchell ’54, May 12, 2015
Barbara Bissell Morison ’40, June 21, 2015
Joseph Murphy ’48, August 10, 2015
Henry Neils ’72, October 23, 2015
Katherine Neilson ’44, October 11, 2015
Mary Neilson ’36, November 21, 2015
John Nunan ’42, July 24, 2015
Patricia Coan Ringer ’45, July 2, 2015
Andrew Ritchie ’94, November 26, 2015
Rita Salone, current parent, December 13, 2015
Traci Singher ’89, December 2015
Alan Smith ’45, April 5, 2015
TYLER HOEG ’08 (AT LEFT) AND JOHN PIIRAINEN ’08 COMPLETED THE bENTON HARbOR, MICHIGAN, TRIATHLON ON AUGUST 9, 2015.
NICK GOLDSTEIN ’04 AND KATIE GRUDNOWSKI GOLDSTEIN ’04 WELCOMED DAUGHTER CHARLOTTE MARY ON JULY 8, 2015, TO THEIR FAMILY, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES SON STEVEN, 2.
Ann Cullen Jewett Smith ’26, January 25, 2015
Carol Skoglund Sperry ’47, May 4, 2015
H. John Stander, former head of school, former trustee, February 20, 2015
Robertson Struthers ’45, December 23, 2014
Bryce Loudon TenBroek ’53, April 20, 2015
Sandra Luce Traff ’54, November 2015
Katharine Lowry Truax ’58, April 23, 2015
Gregory Vangen, former employee, October 4, 2015
Mary McDonald Walstad ’35, March 16, 2015
George Waters ’39, former trustee, June 10, 2015
Ann Chase Wood ’53, former trustee, April 15, 2015
FORMER bLAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS HANS KOENIG AND DOROTHY bJORK
28 Cyrus
SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES AND PHOTOS TO [email protected].
CLASS NOTES
KINSEY ALLEN ’10 IS ENJOYING LIFE IN KODIAK, ALASKA.
GREG LIM ’15 AT FRESHMAN ORIENTATION FOR THE TEPPER SCHOOL OF bUSINESS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY
PICTURED, L TO R, NELLY bLACKbURN HEWETT, JAN WOOLMAN, LEE WOOLMAN, bERNARD ANTOINE ’87, PASCALE ANTOINE ’84, RANDY RObERTS, FRANÇOISE DENIS (WITH A RELATIVE FROM bELGIUM) AT THE UNIVERSITY CLUb IN ST. PAUL, WHERE FRANÇOISE WAS AWARDED THE PRESTIGIOUS ORDER DES PALMES ACADÉMIQUES.
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Winter 2016 29
VOICESDissatisfaction GuaranteedIn 1998, I co-edited a book called Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs. I spent months driving rental cars in great wobbly orbs around the country, interviewing railroad engineers, imams, receptionists, marketers, farm workers, prostitutes, Wal-Mart greeters, Heidi Klum and the then-CEO of AIG. It was a wonderful exposure to the nearly freakish diversity of the United States. When the book came out, nearly every interviewer wanted to know: “So what’d you learn about the American workplace?” It seemed reductive. How could one finding encompass the motley sprawl of American society? A decade later, I’d located an answer: nearly every person I met was at least somewhat dissatisfied. The high-achievers often seemed tapped out, envious of people who’d dawdled a bit. Libertines and family values-types alike betrayed equal degrees of shame or defensiveness about the debauchery, church-going or creative endeavors they’d passed up. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose movies and television shows have grossed over $13 billion, complained almost plaintively that it’d be nice to win an Oscar. Success, for most, seems to be measured by relationships, social recognition, money, property, progeny, religious or spiritual engagement, sexual fulfillment, and the creation or consumption of art, nature and food. Most people manage to cross some of these measures off their list, but I never met the person who felt they’d managed to nail them all to their satisfaction. Thus my big realization: we tend to think of dissatisfaction as a by-product of injustice, bad decisions, poor character or execution errors rather than seeing it as something structural and constant. We tend not to comprehend: this is life. There’s a canonical Buddhist scripture that says something like “a pear tree makes pears; a cherry tree makes cherries; human beings make desires.” If you look at it right, dissatisfaction could and maybe should be considered a positive proof of existence: I’m alive, therefore, I’m whining — about something. I’m tired. I’m envious. I’m ashamed. What I realized is that it’s not what we get that makes us happy so much as how well we manage our feelings about what we haven’t gotten. Yet.
John Bowe ’82 has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, GQ and other national publications. He is the author of Us: Americans Talk About Love and Nobod-ies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy and the winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in- Progress Award.
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