The Spirit
VOLUME XXI, NUMBER
S C H O O L
N E W S
,
I N F O R M A T I O N
1
A N D
FALL 2012
E V E N T S
Message from the Head of School
Honoring the past –
embracing the future.
As I write this letter, it is
with great sadness to note
the passing of Roy Penny, a
Trustee Emeritus at Pennfield. Roy served as a
Major in the US Army in the Pacific Theater
during WWII. He taught English for twenty-six
years, mostly at St. George's School where he
was department chair. In 1993, The New School
was renamed The Pennfield School upon the
retirement of his wife Isabelle Penny, Assistant
Head of School, in honor of Roy and Isabelle
Penny’s dedicated service to the students and
families of the New School. Roy was a scholar –
and a life-long advocate for children. I keep a
note from Roy that describes the principles that
he believed should be employed by all school
employees, “from janitor to the headmaster” in
my desk. His advice is timeless – and grounding.
1. Begin with the Golden Rule. Practice it until
it becomes as natural to you – and as automatic – as breathing.
2. Learn to do by doing. Especially true for the
youngest students.
3. Be prompt. Learn the world of difference
between hurry and wait – AND LATE.
4. One calmly suggested improvement about a
piece of writing is more effective than a paragraph of vituperation.
5. Never (repeat never) make a derogatory
remark about a student’s parents or a student’s clothes.
6. A sense of humor is desirable, but not at the
public expense of the student.
Future Events:
7. When possible, make and keep private your
criticism of the student.
Cornucopia Preview Party
Friday, November 9
6 pm – 8 pm
8. Be consistent.
At Pennfield, we honor the dedication of those
who founded our school in 1971 and who steadfastly believed in our mission to foster joy,
understanding and respect for the past four
decades. The school moved four times before
settling into our permanent home on Little
Slocum Farm in 2004 – but the values of community are unchanged. Now at Pennfield, technology plays a central role in student learning
(note the article by Mattie Kemp about iPads),
our students are forging meaningful connections with students from China and beyond,
and our campus is magnificent. But, we have
never lost sight of our humble beginnings and
our commitment to academic excellence and
the Golden Rule.
For those who haven’t been onto campus in
awhile, feel free to stop by. Friday morning
assemblies at 8:15 am are always great fun.
Yours truly,
Rob Kelley, Head of School
21st Annual Cornucopia
Fine Arts Sale
Saturday, November 10
9 am – 4 pm
Thanksgiving Feast
Monday, November 19
11:45 am – 1:15 am
Barnes and Noble Bookfair
Friday, December 7
Winter Concert
Friday, December 14
11 am – 12 pm
National Geography Bee
Thursday, January 10
10:30 am
Scripps All School
Spelling Bee
Tuesday, January 29
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Admission Open House
Friday, January 25
8 am – 10 am
Welcome Pennfield’s Newest Board of Trustees
Joy
Understanding
Respect
Little Slocum Farm
110 Sandy Point Avenue • Portsmouth • Rhode Island • 02871
401.849.4646 / www.pennfield.org
2012-2013
Board of Trustees
Peter Mottur, Chair
U
Alison Kiely, Vice Chair
Steve Bakos, Jr.
Christopher Bartlett
Stephanie Bartley,
President PSA
Nick Downes
Timothy Froggatt
Christine Frost
U
Helen Glover
Jeremy
Re Howard
Colin Jackson
Robert A. Kelley,
Ex Officio
Kathleen Morse
Bernadette Ottiano
Dejan Radeka
Suzanne Ramponi
Anson Stookey
Re
Trustee Emeriti
Mark Bistline
David Carnegie
William Crimmins
Stefani Hulitar
Dale Rheault
B. Mitchell Simpson, III
Miriam Smith
Anna Tillinghast
Head Emeritus
John R. Pedrick
The Pennfield School Mission
The mission of The Pennfield School is to create
an inclusive community of dedicated learners, where
students are given a foundation and appreciation for the
joyful pursuit of understanding, while fostering respect for
oneself and others as a way of life.
The Pennfield School Core Values
• We are committed to creating an environment in which
everyone is treated with kindness and respect.
• We are committed to being a joyful place, where students learn by example: the importance of honesty,
integrity, generosity and humor.
• We are committed to providing a challenging and balanced curriculum, enabling our students to succeed at
a wide variety of secondary schools and beyond.
• We are committed to fostering a strong partnership
between faculty, students and parents.
• We are committed to creating an inclusive culture that
is diverse in make-up, is tolerant and accepting, and
helps develop a strong sense of social and community
responsibility.
• We are committed to embracing the uniqueness of
every member of our community and providing the
individual attention needed to help each student’s
talents unfold.
• We are committed to providing a safe and supportive
environment in which students are encouraged to take
academic, artistic and athletic risks.
Stephanie Bartley (p’16, p’19) Stephanie holds a B.S. in finance and a minor in business law from Penn State University. Stephanie was employed for ten years with
Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises, Inc., in Dallas, PA, holding managerial positions in finance, marketing, public relations, employee communications, and investor
relations. She also assists her entrepreneurial husband in managing and operating
multiple international businesses. Stephanie lives in Tiverton with her husband and
two children.
Steve Bakios, Jr. ‘97 Steve attended the New School/ Pennfield School from kindergarten through eighth grade graduating in 1997. He was followed shortly thereafter
by his younger siblings Lauren and Matthew. After Pennfield, Steve attended
Portsmouth High School and Colby College in Waterville, Maine where he graduated
with a BA in economics. He earned a graduate certificate in Construction
Management from Northeastern University and is currently an estimator at East
Coast Construction. Steve lives in Middletown and looks forward to becoming more
involved at Pennfield.
Tim Froggatt (p’14, p’18) Tim is a partner at wine importing and marketing company,
Elite Imports. He was educated in the Bahamas, France, and the USA and holds a
Master's Degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Harvard and
Tufts Universities. In addition to his 12 years in the wine industry, Tim also brings
several years of expertise in International Investor Relations in New York and
London. Tim lives in Tiverton with his wife, Wendy, and two children.
Jeremy Howard (p’14, p’16, p’20) Jeremy has 15 years of experience as a product
designer, creative director, principal, and manager in a wide range of categories and
companies. He founded Notch Design Group in 1995. In 2007, Jeremy became
co-founder and principal at 360 Consumer Products, a domestic importer and distributor of sporting goods. In early 2010, Jeremy founded Innovative Sports, a global vendor and distributor of consumer goods. Jeremy is a graduate of the Rhode
Island School of Design with an MFA in Industrial Design. He resides in Little
Compton, Rhode Island with his wife and 3 children.
Professor Colin F. Jackson (p’14, p’16, p’21) Colin is a Professor of Strategy at the
U.S. Naval War College in Newport, RI. He studied at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International
Studies, Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, and MIT. Prior to entering
academia, Professor Jackson worked for several years in the corporate sector in
financial trading, telecommunications, transportation markets, and power development. Professor Jackson continues to serve as a military intelligence officer in the
U.S. Army Reserve.
Bernadette M. Ottiano (p’18) Bernadette lives in Portsmouth with her husband
Christopher and son. She has worked in the medical field for over 20 years as a
Medical Accounts Manager, Office Manager, Medical Insurance Specialist, and
Certified Medical Coder. Her career also included providing local physicians with
consulting on how to organize and manage their practices. She has her degree from
Bryant University in Business Administration. Currently she is a licensed Real Estate
Agent with Century 21 Access America.
Suzanne Ramponi (p’21) Suzanne has 15 years experience in the Staffing and Human
Resource field and was most recently the Staffing and Human Resource Director for
a wireless startup company in Massachusetts. Suzanne graduated from Assumption
College in Worcester, MA with a BA in Psychology. Since leaving the corporate
world, Suzanne enjoys the extra time she is able to spend with her family and
friends, as well as restoring her most current antique home.
Technology Update
by Mattie Kemp
There is a Chinese proverb that says, “Do not confine your children to your
own learning, for they were born in another time.” The Pennfield School understands the 21st century student must be able to think critically, work cooperatively, respond creatively to real-life situations, and manage information from a variety of sources. The Technology Committee, administration, and faculty envision
a student-centered learning environment that combines current innovations with
tried and true methods, while continuing to support various learning styles and
strengths. The use of projectors, laptops, and now the iPads, are a few of the technological tools that fit perfectly within this vision.
Students in the Upper School use their personal iPads to organize and plan
daily assignments. Students and teachers use email for easy communication. In
some situations, students can practice skills online and receive immediate feedback. They can readily access information and watch history unfold in real time.
Backpacks weigh less because some novels and textbooks are accessed via the
iPads. Even our younger students can interact with technology. The Lower School
iPad and laptop carts are available so our young charges can practice good digital
citizenship through responsible and effective uses of technology.
A robust network infrastructure at Pennfield is able to support all faculty,
staff, and student technology requests from researching the Internet to video
communications, and now the one-to-one iPad program. We aim to make technology safe for students by aligning our technology policies and network filtering
to the Federal Child Internet Protection Act.
We have maintained a steady vision of integrated technology in the classroom and our technology committee’s strategic plan and long-range vision
ensures we will keep pace with technology in the future.
TOP:
Domenic Campagna ‘14
ABOVE:
Alexis DeSouza ‘14
RIGHT:
Members of the class of 2014:
Megan Grimes, Zoe Lowney, Grayson
Perlmutter, Ada Schriber
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New Faculty
Toni Caruolo
Lower School and 7th
Grade Science Teacher
Toni has a BS from
University of Connecticut
and a MAT from Roger Williams University.
In the past few years she has been a permanent substitute in both Rhode Island and
Connecticut. Her boundless enthusiasm and
love of science education will fit in nicely
with our program.
Alton Jones Fall Trip
Tara O’Hare Gnolfo
Business Manager
Tara has an MBA from
Salve Regina University
and a BA from Wagner
College. She was the Assistant Business
Manager at St. Michael’s Country Day School
for seven years and has worked for three
years at The Marymount School in New York
as a Human Resource Associate and Office
Manager. Tara also serves as the Artistic
Director for the Newport Children’s Theatre.
Kris LaBadie
Physical Education/
Health Teacher and
Athletic Director
Kris hails from St. Paul’s
School in Baltimore, where he was the Lower
School Physical Education teacher, equipment manager, and three-season coach
since 2004. Kris has a BA in sports management from Towson University and a warm,
welcoming personality.
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The fourth and fifth grade classes ventured off
to W. Alton Jones in West Greenwich, Rhode
Island for their annual trip on September 6th
and 7th. The students took part in several outdoor educational activities including a low
ropes challenge course, a simulation of The
Underground Railroad, and group building fun.
After two days of cabin sleeping and wonderful
fresh air, the students, both old and new,
returned with happy memories and with bonds
that only a trip such as this can create!
Bees
The Pennfield School strives to recognize
excellence in our students, and the school’s
annual geography and spelling bees are
two events, which do just that.
Congratulations to our school champions
Nick Vivieros and Lily Van Petten.
Geography Bee winner, Nick Vivieros,
shaking hands with runner-up Domenic
Campagna.
ABOVE:
Spelling Bee winner, Lily Van Petten,
with writing skills educator, Jennifer Alexander.
Upper School Trip
For this year's Upper School fall trip,
our students returned to Chewonki
in Wiscasset, Maine - the second visit
for our 8th grade students, who
attended as 6th graders. This annual
event always provides a tremendous
bonding experience for new and seasoned Pennfield students alike. For
the primary group activities, 6th
grade went for a canoeing excursion, the 7th grade completed the challenging
"Gulch Crossing", while the 8th Grade students climbed the heck out of Chewonki's
indoor low and high ropes course in The Barn. Along with four dedicated faculty
and two enthusiastic parent chaperones, each campsite group experienced many
environmental education opportunities, including their daily teamwork and leadership challenges. Most groups had an opportunity to go for a not-too-chilly swim
between the scheduled activities. Tent camping, cutting and collecting wood,
preparing meals over the campfire and taking in the breathtaking grandeur of midcoast Maine gave all the students and chaperones plenty of positive moments to
reflect upon during the rest of the school year.
Science Expo
American Astronomer, Edwin Powell Hubble once said, “Equipped with his five senses,
man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science.” Students at
The Pennfield School went on their own adventure using the sound science principles
demonstrated in their science courses. The science expo was titled, “MythBusters,”
and students explored a variety of myths. Using the scientific method, students
developed their own hypothesis, experiments, and presented their findings through
student-created videos. It was a mind-boggling and myth busting affair!
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LF & TENNIS TOURNA
AL GO
MEN
U
N
T
AN
Rainy weather didn’t dampen the mood at our annual Golf and Tennis
Tournament. Golfers teed up at Newport National Golf course, while
tennis players postponed their activities until the following week at
Salve University’s campus. Good company and great competition, with
proceeds benefiting The Pennfield Scholarship Fund, this is an event
not to be missed! We would like to give special thanks to our major
contributors and sponsors:
NEWPORT FED
ANDSAGER, BARTLETT & PIERONI
CBIZ Tofias
Glorious Affairs
Greenvale Vineyard
Salve Regina University
Tom Peters Plumbing and Heating, Inc.
Tremblay Bus Co., LLC
John and Judy Allen
Newport Daily News
Anonymous
Ocean State Janitorial Service, Inc.
Stephen N. Bakios, DDS
Olympic Physical Therapy
Christine Bandoni
John and Nancy Pedrick
Blue Plate Diner
Kyle and Dawn Phelps
Fritzi and Kemp Byrnes
Douglas and Martha Poole
Carey, Richmond & Viking
Portsmouth Abbey School
Insurance
TOP:
Golf Tournament Winners: Doug Banoff, Jack King,
John Olinger (not pictured Bert Reid).
CENTER:
Debbie Mottur and Kate Sisk.
BOTTOM:
Tennis Tournament Winners: 1st place winners, Andrea
Breyer and Andrew Burnat, and Runners Up: Kate and Ed Sisk.
US
AT THE
UAL
TH ANN
JOIN
7
GOLF
TENNIS
ENT
M
TOURNA
3!
MAY 201
Prout School
Crystal Spring Water
Rite/Lauder Oil Co.
Jeff and Jessica Day
Rocco's Pizzeria
Delken Companies
Rockstar Limo
Gas Lamp Grille
Rocky Hill School
Anne Hyder
Jamie Schapiro and Kristin Emory
Colin and Beth Jackson
Senco Printing Co.
Jr. Golf Camp of Green Valley
Ships Wheel Brand Corp.
Country Club
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SHS Pest Control, Corp.
Rob Kelley and Ann Cotter-Kelley
Simmons Assocaites, Ltd
Bill and Pat Kelley
Sisk Family
The Kiely Family
St. George's School
Lou and Regina Krzych
International Tennis Hall of Fame
James T. and Diane I. Kurtis
Toppa's Foodservice &
Lincoln School
Paper Supply, Llc
Dr. Jeremiah and Virginia Lowney
Robert and Laura Wadsworth
Ruff and Polly Meadows
Dr. Susan Walker
Moses Brown School
Wheeler School
Irene Needham
John and Beth White
Newport Tent Co.
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Preprint Logistics
Richard and Janet Colby
China Connection
It all began with a conversation in the
school parking lot in 2010…
Pennfield pioneers at the
Great Wall – pictured left to
right: Kai Nanfelt, Will
Muessel, Jay Cunningham,
Owen Schriber, Carter
Walker, Alex Campagna seated, Luke Crimmins
Tony Jaccaci, parent of a fifth grade Pennfield student, had been named Executive
Principal of YK Pao School in Shanghai and was charged with building a secondary
school – somewhat like St. George’s School in Middletown – for Chinese nationals.
Tony and I chatted about school leadership and, more importantly, about the exciting
educational and cultural opportunities that a relationship between Pennfield School
and YK Pao School could bring to our students – and to our respective communities.
Pennfield had longstanding exchange programs with two schools in the United
Kingdom, which ended after 9/11. Reconstituting an international exchange for our
students was a priority for me; the conversation with Tony was truly fortuitous.
China’s economy plays an ever-expanding role in all of our lives, its history dates back
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over two thousand years, and Chinese culture and customs are
certainly very different from ours. Providing Pennfield students
with a first-hand look at this society just makes sense on so many
fronts.
Step one. Demonstrate to Pennfield parents that a twelvehour plane ride, half way around the world to China and a tenday stay are safe and that living with a Chinese host family and
experiencing “China” is an extremely valuable – potentially lifealtering experience. After a series of parent meetings and Skype
presentations by Tony Jaccaci and Jon Banks, a YK Pao fifth grade
teacher, seven Pennfield students signed up to make the first trek
to China.
In March 2011, history and English teacher Lesley Faria and I
accompanied seven boys on an amazing ten-day adventure to
Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai. (Only boys joined this group; I
envision quite a few girls going to China this March!) In Beijing,
we toured Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (Pennfield
flags, I was sternly told, are not allowed there), The Summer
Palace, and, of course, The Great Wall. At the Great Wall, a stone
inscription by Mao resonated with the boys. "He who has not
climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.”
After Beijing we traveled by train to our next destination,
Xi’an, the ancient capital of China. The overnight train was quite
an adventure in its own right. The highlights in Xi’an were biking
around the city’s 40 foot, 8.5-mile inner wall and visiting The
Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, the guardians of the tomb of
emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first
Emperor of China. Another
overnight train took us to Shanghai
where students stayed with host families for four days, spent time going to
classes at YK Pao School, and experienced life in Shanghai – an expansive,
modern city with over twenty-two
million people.
A few weeks after our return, ten
YK Pao students with two chaperones
traveled to the United States, visiting
New York, Boston, and Rhode Island,
staying with Pennfield host families
for five days, and seeing local sights.
Like our experience in China, the YK
TOP:
The overnight train to Xi’an.
RIGHT: Having pictures with a bride and groom
in Shanghai.
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At Tiananmen Square - the Forbidden City is the background.
Pao contingent was thrilled “discovering” the United States, and they loved
Pennfield classes!
The next phase of our Chinese connection involves taking another group
of students back to China in March
2013 and forging academic connections
between faculty members. I envision
classes working on joint science and
social studies projects, sending email
correspondence and iMovies to each
other and occasionally Skyping. This
fall we’ve begun offering after-school
Mandarin classes to our older students
and seventh grade world cultures will
study Modern China for seven weeks.
The distance between Shanghai,
China and Portsmouth, Rhode Island is
7,343 miles – but for our students that
distance certainly seems much smaller. I
found that “kids are kids,” regardless of
geography.
– Remarks by Rob Kelley
Practicing Tai Chi with YK Pao students
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Thank you for coming this evening to celebrate this amazing milestone - 40 Years.
Can you believe it?
Our school was founded in 1971, and for the first 22 years was called The New
School until being renamed Pennfield School in honor of Isabelle and Roy Penny.
Over the past four decades, the school has moved five times, finally establishing its
permanent home on Little Slocum Farm in 2004 as a result of the generosity of so
many of you during the Homeward Bound Campaign. The campus certainly is beautiful and curriculum is as strong as ever, but with additional enhancements, like a focus on sustainability and
ecology, expanded opportunities to write creatively, an
emerging relationship with YK Pao School in Shanghai,
China, and the integration of iPad technology in the
Upper School. That said, Pennfield School is such a special place, such an ideal learning community, because
our school, simply put is a happy place that emphasizes
academic excellence, but always in the context of
respect, kindness and humility.
40
th
Anniversary
Gala
The long lists of volunteers and donors in this
evening’s program are testament to the ethos of
Pennfield, when you see a need, step up and get
involved! That said, there are a few who deserve a tad
more recognition.
The Chairs of the 40th Anniversary: Celebrating
Teaching Excellence Committee, Anson Stookey and
Christine Bandoni and their dedicated team of organizers, which, of course, includes the tireless director of
Advancement Polly Meadows, thank you. We are so
close to reaching our goal of $250,000, maybe the live
auction at 9:00 p.m. will take us over the top.
The Chairs of the Gala Committee, Dina Karousos, Diane Campagna, Karen
Houston, and their cadre of volunteers and furniture designers. Thank you. Pennfield
certainly has some creative parents! Thank you, too, Bill Hall, for letting us use your
office. What a breathtaking setting!
Members of the Board of Trustees, past and present, and the sage advisors of the
School, the Trustee Emeriti. Your commitment to Pennfield is an inspiration.
Past Board Chairs, they’ll all attest, being a Board of Trustees Chair is no part-time
gig. Past Board Chairs with us this evening are, Dale Rheault, Mark Bistline, Bob
Smith, Nellie Walcoff, Steve Bakios, Christine Bandoni and our current Chair, Peter
Mottur. Thank you for your service.
The Head Emeritus and his wife and Honorary Chairs of tonight’s Gala who
served Pennfield loyally, and brilliantly for 22 years, John and Nancy Pedrick.
And finally, the School’s greatest treasure – would all past and present faculty
members please come forward – Join me in wishing Pennfield School a Happy
Birthday and thanking the faculty for a job well done.
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PHOTO BY CLOUD HOWARD
Congratulations to the Class of 2012!
Mark Bistline’s Graduation Address
Mr. Kelley, faculty, Board members, parents, students,
guests and most importantly, members of the Pennfield class
of 2012, thank you for inviting me to be here today. I am
honored. I love this school like no other.
Like Peter Mottur, when I was Board Chair, I too spoke
at this event. Every year, I had a few words of advice for the
graduating class and one year I began by saying to the graduates, almost all of whom had been in the audience the year
before, "if even one of you can tell me what I spoke about
last year, I will not give an address this year--we can just get
on with it." Well of course not one of them remembered
what I had said, and I tell that story this morning because
against all odds, I very much encourage this year's graduates
to listen up, because buried in these remarks will be some of
the best advice you will ever hear.
A question for the class of 2012: what are your three
most dreaded letters in the alphabet? I will give you the first,
it's a vowel, the letter E. OK, the second letter is R. So,
ER...correct, ERB.
ERB. How many times have you guys taken the ERB's?
All of you out there probably don't know what I’m talking
about, but that's OK because I'm talking to these 29 people
right here, and they definitely know what I’m talking about.
If the average tenure in this class is 5 years, then we would
have seen 145 sittings for the ERB's in this class alone.
Now let me first say that ERB holds the longest tenure of
any Schoolyard client--we think they're a great organization,
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and as standardized tests go--they make a fine test. But the areas
of intelligence that these tests, and by extension our schools,
value and measure, are not particularly connected to what the
principal mission of school is--no more certainly than the other
areas of intelligence identified by Harvard's Howard Gardner in
1983.
And what is that principal mission? Correct, preparation
for life.
In our education system we value, above all else, English
and math--or in the parlance of standardized testing, the verbal
and the quantitative. And if you are good at words and numbers--if you love them as I do--then good for you. But the
framers of the Constitution did not all possess the verbal skills
of those who actually wrote the Constitution. They were enormous risk takers and visionary problem solvers, and the problems were certainly not math problems. We did not end slavery
or win two World Wars with high verbal and math test scores.
Apple and Microsoft were founded by a couple of college
dropouts.
I'm going to tell the stories of four people this morning-stories where SSAT and ERB scores didn't matter at all. Stories
where school was the perfect match, and stories where school
wasn't even a factor.
Jim came from a modest home, but he was built for school-he was really good at words and numbers. His mother kept a
folio of his report cards from first grade through his senior year
of college, and he never received a grade in those 16 years other
than A. An almost endless line of the letter A. At the end of 10th
grade his Principal called him in and said, "There is nothing left
2012 Awards
The following awards were presented during
Commencement:
Eric W. Lawrence Art Prize
Is awarded to the 8th grader who has enriched the
artistic life at The Pennfield School through the
development of his or her artistic talent while a student
at the school. Nick Vivieros
The Redwood Library History Prize
Is awarded to the eighth grader in recognition of
outstanding academic achievement and a dedicated
interest in history. Carter Walker
The Williams College Book Prize
For extracurricular activity and potential for leadership.
Luc Paruta
The Isabel H. Penny Prize in English
For outstanding and conscientious study and usage of
the English language. Luke Crimmins
Dr. Benjamin Harrison Walker, Jr.
Science Prize
Awarded to the graduating 8th grader who seeks deeper
understanding of the natural world through the study
of the sciences and is eager to share that passion
with others. Tabby Wilson
The John R. Pedrick Award
The John R. Pedrick prize is awarded to the Pennfield
first through 8th grader who embodies the spirit and
tenets of John R. Pedrick, by making a difference in the
lives of others through kindness, respect, understanding,
tolerance and compassion. Alden Grimes
The Pennfield School Association
Spirit Award
To the 8th grader who represents the family spirit of the
Pennfield School at its best through kindness to all,
participation in school activities, and support of the
ideals of the Pennfield School. Will Muessel and
Emma Radeka
The Faculty Cup
For significant contributions to the life of the
Pennfield School. Willy Tardif, Andrea Tardif
and George Karousos
for us to teach you. For the next two years you will come to my office
on Monday to receive special assignments I will have prepared for you.
You will work on them at home and deliver your work to me on Friday.
You will have the weekend off. (He didn't actually have the weekend off
as he worked weekends at the local A&P grocery store.) We will review
your work on Monday morning, and you will leave with new assignments, and we will do this for the next two years." And so they did. Jim
went to Duke, graduated first in his class, made law review at
Columbia, was a war trial attorney at Nuremburg, and went on to head
the law department at a fortune 500 company.
Rick and Tim wanted to be musicians. Tim knew this from
Kindergarten, and Rick figured it out in high school. A great drummer,
Tim went to the New England Conservatory of Music and played
everywhere from Carnegie Hall to The Vienna Symphony. He learned
over twenty instruments and became one of the premier bluegrass
banjo players in the country. Rick went to Berklee, dropped out after
one semester, drove a cab, tended bar, and swung a hammer. Twenty
years ago, in the middle of a house renovation project, Rick told a
friend, "I finally figured out what I'm going to do--I'm going to move
to Hawaii and become an airline pilot." He had never flown an airplane, had no military background, and yet today Rick is the captain on
a wide-body airbus for America's oldest carrier, Hawaiian Airlines, flying to Australia, Japan, and the US. Years later he told that same friend,
"I've pulled the yoke back for take off hundreds of times and it is still as
thrilling as it was the first time I did it." The first thing Rick does when
he enters the cockpit is stow his 1972 blonde Fender Telecaster into the
captains locker, and when Rick is not flying, he is the lead guitar player
for The Dynamic Shuffle Kings, a blues band with a standing gig at a
joint toward the gritty end of the Waikiki strip.
Zack was a freshman in college, and one day, in the middle of a lecture, he closed his book, got up from his desk, walked out of class,
drove to the Army recruitment office, and 20 minutes later Zack was a
member of the US Army. Three months later, after going through medical training, Zack was in Iraq, serving as a medic in the first Gulf War,
Operation Desert Storm. After his tour, Zack returned home and went
back to college on the GI Bill and the Army College Fund. He maintained a full-time job while a full-time student and earned his degree.
Eventually, Zack built his own company, and today that company
employs over 60 people who solve pressing technology problems for the
largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Two months ago, Zack
launched his second company.
So some people are really good at school, and some people are not,
but everybody is really good at something, and the super valuable
advice I referenced earlier is this: if the thing you are really good at is
going to be cultivated somewhere other than school, then it is absolutely OK to look elsewhere to find your passion and fulfill the potential of
who you are meant to be. This is NOT a suggestion that you can just
skip high school--definitely graduate from high school. It's just that if
you think the stress of test scores, SSAT prep classes, and who got into
what school was bad this time around, just wait a few years, and you
know what--in an awful lot of cases, all of that stress and work and
worry is not going to correlate at all to preparing you for life or finding
your passion. But whatever you do after high school, if you want to
[ continued on page 15 ]
The Spirit  
 13
A Note from an Alumna…
By Sadie McQuilkin, class of 2008
Over the course of my nine years at The
Pennfield School, the community there instilled
in me a passion for knowledge, kindness, and
honesty that have influenced my personal and
academic growth for the better. It was at
Pennfield that I first discovered my interest in
science, and I credit the school’s teachers with
acknowledging that seedling of curiosity in me
and nurturing it so that it could grow. From
making cotton-ball clouds to learn the difference between cumulus, cirrus, and cumulonimbus in lower school to dissecting earthworms in
upper school, the hands-on curriculum at
Pennfield provided ample opportunity for me to
explore the scientific world. I took with me from
Pennfield a sense of wonder at the natural
world, and the study skills to explore it in and
out of the classroom.
I entered St. George’s School well prepared for the academically rigorous curriculum,
and excelled thanks to the values I learned at
Pennfield. Although my academic passions
extend to a wide variety of subjects, I remain a
passionate science student. Last summer I
spent two weeks at an internship at the Curie
Institute in Paris, France, working in the
Structural Motility Lab. The experience was one
Calling All Alums…
of the most exciting and challenging of my life.
Although I did not know it at the time, my years
at Pennfield served as a catalyst for this internship, for it was at Pennfield that I was encouraged to study both French and biology.
Pennfield gave me a solid foundation in both
subjects, and gave me the confidence to pursue
them further in high school, ultimately leading to
this internship. I cannot thank the Pennfield
community enough for providing me with a truly
unique and enriching beginning to my academic
career.
the pennfield school
annual fund 2012-13
 14
The Spirit  
Please contact the alumni office
([email protected]).
We need your updated email and
mailing address. Most important –
we need your news. What are you
doing?
Check out The Pennfield School
facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/
pennfield
Friend Pennfield!
Annual Alumni Holiday Party!
Thursday, December 23, 2012
7- 8 pm
The Gas Lamp Grille
206 Thames St., Newport, RI
Classes 1972-2005 reconnect with each other
[ continued from page 13 ]
become the person you are meant to become, you have to share the two common characteristics of the people whose stories I just told. And what are these
two common characteristics? Not high test scores. Not aptitude in math and
English. The first is that they refused to settle, and the second is that they
worked really, really hard to realize their passion.
The other thing they have in common is that I know, or knew, all of them-and they all have a connection to this place. Just as those of you graduating
today will always have a connection to this place. Like you, they are just ordinary people who were once graduating from 8th grade. Jim, the super straightA student was my father, and the white house at the entrance to the school,
Bistline House, bears his name. Tim, the symphony percussionist, was my close
friend since Kindergarten. He died many years ago from cancer. You probably
didn't know that the Pennfield stage has a name, but it is officially the Tim
Valdez Stage, named for my lifelong friend, Tim. You can read his name on the
green sign over here, stage left. Rick, the airline pilot, is my best friend from
high school, and the friend he announced his dream to was me, years ago as we
walked across the campus at St. George's. He will be speaking at a Pennfield
assembly sometime next year. And perhaps best of all, Zack, the kid who twenty
years ago dropped out of college and went to war, and became an entrepreneurial rock star, is Zack King father of Pennfield first-grader, Finn King.
In closing, the two most cherished words in any speech--I want to clarify
that I am all for school, and in spite of the overvaluation of some subjects and
the undervaluation of others, high school in particular, is a great place to find
your passion. My daughter Bennett, Pennfield class of '03, found her passion
for the arts at St. George's, and she is a salaried professional in the arts in New
York today.
Every one of you is talented, and schools sometimes cultivate such talent,
but far too often they don't. Sir Ken Robinson, in his New York Times Best
Seller, The Element, How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, puts it this
way:
I travel a great deal and work with people all around the world...
Everywhere I meet students who are trying to figure out their futures and
don't know where to start. I meet concerned parents who are trying to help
them but instead often steer them away from their true talents on the
assumption that their kids have to follow conventional routes to
success...Along the way, I've lost track of the numbers of people I've met
who have no real sense of what their individual talents and passions are.
They don't enjoy what they're doing now but they have no idea what actually would fulfill them.
On the other hand, I also meet people who've been highly successful in all
kinds of fields who are passionate about what they do and couldn't imagine doing anything else. I believe that their stories have something important to teach all of us about the nature of human capacity and fulfillment.
I've found it's real stories like these, at least as much as statistics and the
opinions of experts, that persuade people that we all need to think differently about ourselves and about what we're doing with our lives [and]
about how we're educating our children..."
I have a copy of Sir Ken Robinson's book for each of you--it's under your
chairs--it is enormously entertaining, I promise--and whereas I don't encourage you to read it this summer necessarily, pick it up a year or two, or three
from now, and read it, ideally before you begin the college tour in your junior
year. Hopefully, by the time you read the book it will already be dog-eared from
your parents having gotten to it first. It's full of great stories of individuals who
are living in their element, which is what I hope for all of you. Good luck.
2012 Graduate Secondary Schools
Our graduates will be attending the
following schools next year
Cambridge School of Weston (1)
LaSalle Academy (2)
Bishop Stang (1)
Portsmouth HS (3)
Middletown HS (2)
Bishop Hendricken (2)
Prout (2)
St. George’s (5)
Tabor Academy (6)
Rocky Hill School (2)
Wheeler (2)
2008 Graduate Colleges
Enjoy a partial list of the colleges
and universities our graduates from
class of 2008 are now attending:
Brown University
College of Charleston
Endicott College
Georgetown University
George Washington University
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Marist College
Middlebury College
Northeastern University
Roger Williams University
Stanford University
St. Lawrence College
University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth
University of New Hampshire
University of San Diego
University of Tampa
Vassar College
Wheaton College
The Spirit  
 15
Saturday, November 10
9 am -4 pm
Cornucopia
Art Sale
f
O
7
from 6 to 8pm
Have You
Considered Making
a Bequest To The
Pennfield School?
PREVIEW
PARTY!
Friday,
November 9
6-8 pm
Bequests have long been one of the
easiest and most popular ways of
supporting charities. To leave a
bequest to the School, simply
include the following language in
your will: I give (________dollars/
_________ percentage of the entire
residue of my estate) to the Board of
Trustees of The Pennfield School, a
Rhode Island educational, charitable corporation.
Each year as part of the Pennfield School’s
commitment to the arts, we host the Cornucopia Sale
of fine arts and
highRhode
quality
Portsmouth,
Island handmade artistic products at our
4
beautiful
campus.
It is a spectacular 2-day event held each year in November. It is a
gathering of outstanding Artisans from all around the New England
area, who display and sell their work.
As with any financial decisions,
you should consult your financial
advisors. If you are contemplating
a gift to Pennfield, please let us
know so we can ensure your gift
can be used according to your
directions. If you have questions
about your philanthropy, please
contact Head of School, Rob Kelley
at 401.849.4646.
This wonderful event is a major fundraiser for our school. It is also
an opportunity to creatively reach out to our community to fulfill an
artistic need and venue for artists in the area.
Funds raised by Cornucopia are directed to the John R. Pedrick
Faculty Endowment and Arts Education and enrichment programs.
Re
U
Re
U
www.pennfield.org
Little Slocum Farm • 110 Sandy Point Avenue
Portsmouth, Rhode Island 02871
U
Re
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Newport, RI
02840
Permit #205