ademicc a - grosse pointe academy€¦ · development, curriculum materials and learning spaces....

THE AcademicS P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 T H E G R O S S E P O I N T E A C A D E M Y

WELLESLEY GRAD DISCUSSES GPA’S ‘WEALTH OF ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES’plus. . .IN-DEMAND MUSICIAN GOT HIS START AT THE ACADEMYHIGH STANDARDS, AMAZING STUDENTSand more, including reunion pics. . .

NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL LOOKS TO BRIGHT, ACTIVE FUTURE AT THE ACADEMY; GETS TO WORK IMMEDIATELY

The Grosse Pointe Academy171 Lake Shore RoadGrosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236

Non ProfitU.S. Postage

PAIDDetroit, MI

Permit 2549

Committed to community work

Moving GPA to ‘next level’

Securing

THE ADVANTAGETogether

Why give…BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DO EVERY DAY!The Academy Fund is our annual appeal to support The Grosse Pointe Academy. It is the most important fundraising effort of the year in that it provides ongoing support to the operating budget, allowing The Grosse Pointe Academy to offer competitive salaries, professional development and unique educational experiences, while also keeping tuition as affordable as possible.

YOUR GIFT WILL SUPPORT:

SUPPORT THE ACADEMY FUND WITH YOUR GIFT NOW! SECURE ONLINE GIVING IS AVAILABLE AT GPACADEMY.ORG.

THE ACADEMY FUND

nContinual enhancements to our Montessori classroom materials

nCompetitive athletic programs with travel opportunities throughout metropolitan Detroit

nMiddle School Real-World Experiences and Applied Learning (R.E.A.L.) electives classes

nDedicated reading and math specialist for all students in grade 1 through 3

nUnique professional development opportunities to foster faculty growth, including a dedicated Technology and Learning Specialist on staff

nFull time school nurse to collaborate with school staff members and parents, thereby keeping students safe at school and healthy to learn

2015 Magazine Appeal Page.indd 1 9/23/15 10:47 AM

Contents

H E A D O F S C H O O L

Tommy Adams

D E V E L O P M E N T D I R E C T O R

Kristen Van Pelt

E D I T O R Mike Kelly

C O N T R I B U T O R S Lars Kuelling

T H E A C A D E M I C The Academic is a magazine devoted to the students, alumni, parents and friends of The Grosse Pointe Academy. It is published twice a year, in the spring and fall.

C O N T A C T U S

The Grosse Pointe Academy

171 Lake Shore Rd.

Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. 48236

313-886-1221

[email protected]

Spring 2016 Volume 2 No.1

pg. 46

pg. 44

A BRIGHT FUTUREThe Grosse Pointe Academy’s new head of school looks to

bright, active future at the Academy.

GPA NEWSNews and information about The Grosse Pointe Academy.

SOLO IN FIRST-GRADE PLAY PART OF A LIFE OF MUSIC Academy alum is touring and making records. She says her time at GPA prepared her

well for high school, college—and life.

HIGH STANDARDS, AMAZING STUDENTSFourth-grade teacher says students continue to amaze her even though her standards

are set very high.

‘PEACEFUL PLACE’Current Academy directress discovered

the advantage of Montessori and fully

embraced it.

SECOND ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST, ACADEMY-STYLESee photos from the October

15 alumni reunion held at

Atwater in the Park.

6

10

28

30

42

46

pg. 30

pg. 28

pg. 6

HEAD OF SCHOOLMESSAGE

Four years ago, the Kuelling family gathered on the Nuns’ Walk, the picturesque path framed by century-old oaks that connects The Grosse Pointe Academy to the outside

world, for a family portrait that would be used to introduce us to the GPA community. Four years later, as we prepare to move on to The Harley School of Rochester, NY, it seemed fitting that we would take one last picture on the Nuns’ Walk, a spot that came to anchor our family in place while at GPA and framed our daily “commute” between the Head’s house and school.

As parents, it is amazing to look at the two pictures and to reflect upon how GPA has changed our children’s lives while they have grown from pre-teens to teenagers. Patty and I are indebted to the faculty and staff for the care and support that our children, Tate, Aiden, and Sadie, received while at GPA. Here, the teachers embraced each one of them for who they are, nurturing their interests in academics, the arts, and athletics, challenging them to be their best selves, and inspiring a love of learning. While here, they have received the best of an Academy education as they have become artists, developed a love for acting and singing, wrestled with complex academic problems, become accomplished speakers, grown as athletes on the court and in the field, rafted the New River, and traveled the world. And, they have made life-long

4 S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 | T H E AC A D E M I C

friends…and been blessed by wonderful teachers in the process. There is much that the faculty and administration accomplished in that same time—a Garden Classroom, the STEM Lab, Middle School REAL electives, a France & Spain Trip, ISACS reaccreditation, a renewed emphasis on GPA’s Montessori foundations, and a continued commitment to Christian values—and I am thankful to the faculty and staff for all the hard work that they put into accomplishing those goals as we looked to provide a top-notch, student-centered

education. As well, the Board of Trustees deserves special recognition as we worked together to strengthen GPA’s financial position and chart a path forward with a robust strategic plan. Personally, my greatest professional joy has come from the rebirth of a strong community of professional learners. From Innovation Grants that incentivize innovation in the classroom to robust faculty-led Professional Development and Curriculum Review Committees to this year’s extremely successful Paddle Raise in support of faculty professional development and cutting edge programs, we have worked together as a school community to recognize, affirm, and empower our excellent faculty. A huge thank you to the faculty for

making my job such a joy each day; I will miss you one and all! Thank you to all of the members of the GPA family for welcoming the Kuelling family into the community and for giving us so much. We are ever grateful.

All the best,

Lars

Photos above and lower right: The Kuellings, from left, Tate, Patty, Sadie, Lars and Aiden.

T H E G R O S S E P O I N T E AC A D E M Y | S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 5

The 2016 edition of The Grosse Pointe Acad-emy’s Action Auction was an unqualified success, according to organizers of the annual fundraising event. More than $500,000 was raised this year at the Fête des Amis “Together We Flourish” auction, which was held May 7 on GPA’s Grosse Pointe Farms campus.

The auction guests, comprised of Acade-my families, community leaders and corporate sponsors, enjoyed an evening of robust bidding on a selection of fabulous and unique items and experiences in both silent and live auction for-mats. Of particular note, the $177,000 brought in through the auction’s special “paddle-raise” was the second highest amount raised in the history of the auction’s paddle-raise. School officials said the paddle-raise dollars this year are exclusively going for the benefit of Academy teachers’ professional development, curriculum materials and learning spaces.

“The massive success of this year’s auction and paddle-raise is a huge testament to the GPA com-munity’s appreciation of the work that our faculty does every day with our students,” said Kristen Van Pelt, the school’s development director.

GPA school head Lars Kuelling said this year’s auction exceeded all expectations.

“I am truly amazed at how everything comes together so beautifully every year,” he said. “And this year’s auction was a testament to not only the many, many volunteers and staffers who worked on this event, but it showed once again how much our school community values the work our teach-ers do for the students.

“The success of the paddle-raise, in particular, is in so many ways a tribute to our faculty’s deep care for our students and a recognition by our com-munity of all that they do to provide a top-notch experience for each child,” Kuelling said.

Van Pelt wanted to point out how especially grateful the Academy is for the amount of time and energy exhibited by this year’s auction co-chairs.

“A huge thank you goes to our honorary chairs, Connie and Brian Demkowicz, and to our co-chairs, Bill and Kelley Smith, and Robin and Kim Kend-rick, who put in a great deal of voluntary time and energy in order to ensure the success of this year’s auction,” she said.

Van Pelt also pointed out that while the Acade-my has wrapped up the 2016 auction, another one awaits in 2017. In fact, 2017’s event will mark the 50th anniversary of Action Auction and work has already begun to help ensure next year’s Fête des Amis also proves successful.

“Putting this event together is a year-round effort and a labor of love to support the mission of our school, and we are well on our way in planning for the 2017 auction, which is scheduled for May 13, 2017,” she said. “We are looking forward to celebrating 50 years of successful auctions at The Grosse Pointe Academy next spring.”

ACTION AUCTION 2016 PROVES TO BE BIG WINNER FOR GPA

GPAAUCTION

The Grosse Pointe Academy’s Action Auction in May raised more than $500,000 for the Grosse Pointe Farms school.

Kim Kendrick, one of this year’s auction co-chairs, speaks to guests at the May 7 event, which also raised $177,000 through its “paddle-raise” for the benefit of Academy teachers’ professional development, curriculum materials and learning spaces.

NEWHEAD OF SCHOOL

A bright future


NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL LOOKS TO BRIGHT, ACTIVE FUTURE AT THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY

When Thomas “Tommy”

Adams starts his tenure as The

Grosse Pointe Academy’s new

head of school this summer, he

doesn’t plan to spend too much

time sitting back and relaxing.

There’s a lot of work to do, he

said, and he’s looking forward

to rolling up his sleeves on

July 1 and getting to it.

New GPA head Tommy Adams and his wife, Kendall, at right, along with previous HOS Lars Kuelling and his wife, Patti, greet guests at the 2016 Action Auction.


A thoughtful, ambitious and personable leader, Adams, who is leaving his position as assistant head of school for enrollment at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pa., said he wants to hit the ground running at GPA.

“To be sure, my family and I look forward to arriving this summer and having the opportunity to meet and get to know all members of the GPA family,” he said. “I also want to quickly build up a level of trust and communication within the community at GPA, both internally and externally, so that we can begin to move this school to the next level in important ways.”

“I plan to work very hard and look forward to working with our faculty and staff,” he said. “It’s going to be a busy summer and fall.”

Spending a summer and fall in Grosse Pointe also is something Adams is looking forward to. Other than the airport, he said he had never been to the Detroit or Grosse Pointe area before his first GPA interview in February.

“Although I’ve always heard amazing things about the Pointes, it’s quite different when you’re actually here,” he said. “It’s beautiful, and my family and I are excited to become part of the school and local communities.”

He also said it reminds him a bit of Long Island, New York, where he grew up.

“My father was a head of school in an independent school on Long Island, and I had the opportunity to live in a community somewhat similar to Grosse Pointe,” he said. “Both communities are full of people who take a lot of pride in their towns. For example, at the recent GPA Action Auction, I really sensed that people here — parents and staff — are very proud of their school and community. I also sensed that many people have been in the area for a lifetime

and are really tuned into their community and school roots.”

Despite his father’s professional experience and his own background as a boarding school student, Adams never planned on a career in education. Instead, as his college graduation approached, he looked toward what he and many of his classmates at Roanoke College thought was their destiny: a career in business.

“I was teaching tennis during the summers when I was in college, and I hired a young woman to help me with the kids,” he said. “Her father was headmaster at Northwood School, a boarding school in Lake Placid, New York, and he and I had a number of conversations about the fact that I loved working with and coaching kids. He asked if I’d ever thought about becoming a teacher, which I had not, and then asked if I would ever consider applying for a job at his school. I had attended Avon Old Farms School, which is a boarding school in Connecticut, and I loved my experience there. So I thought this might be a great first step. I could do this for a couple of years and then I’d go get, quote-unquote, a real job.”

So, with a bachelor’s degree from Roanoke College in hand, off he went to Northwood School. By Thanksgiving break, he knew working in schools was his calling and went on to spend the next three years teaching social studies, being a dorm parent, and coaching three seasons of athletics.

“I loved it. I loved working with kids, loved the fact that I was having an impact on their lives. I felt that this was what I was meant to do.”

But after those three years at Northwood, he developed a passion for working with families as they considered boarding school. Once he

“At the recent GPA Action Auction, I really sensed that people here —

parents and staff — are very proud of their school and community.”

found an opportunity to work in admissions, Adams never looked back. He worked at two small boarding schools before landing at The Gunnery, in Washington, Connecticut and then Mercersburg Academy, the two schools where he would spend the bulk of his career. The family’s ties to these schools run deep: eldest son Logan graduated from The Gunnery last year, and son Colin will begin his senior year at Mercersburg this fall. The family’s youngest son, Griffin, will start at GPA come fall.

“Being a parent of a current student has allowed me unique insight into these schools, and Kendall and I look forward to having the same experience at The Grosse Pointe Academy.”

John Murphy, who is board chair at the Academy and was very involved in the school’s head of school search process, said Adams is the perfect choice for the school at this time. “Tommy will be a real asset to GPA,” he said. “He brings a wealth of admissions experience and talent in independent-school administration to our school. But, even more important, he will be bringing a very obvious and infectious enthusiasm to our campus that will be critically important as we are setting some rather ambitious goals for the Academy.”

Adams’ tireless work in school administration over the past two decades in school makes him a unique and strategic choice to take the helm at GPA.

“People may think, and they’re probably right, that I am the unconventional choice for head of school at the Academy. I have been working externally — outside the classroom — for the last 21 years. But the role of director of admissions is no longer what it used to be thirty years ago. My role has expanded from not only

Adams says independent schools are “the best at bringing out the best in kids.”

NEWHEAD OF SCHOOL

Adams is by nature a leader who challenges those around him to think

differently and to work progressively to improve themselves and their institution.

focusing on the external piece of the institution, but understanding the internal piece as well. My career in boarding school has further enabled me to do what I most enjoy: work closely with students as an advisor, dorm parent, and coach.”

He said admissions professionals need to know and completely comprehend — and be able to fully explain — the programs, the teaching, the ‘value’ of all of that is their institution.

“Because when families are weighing their educational choices,” he said, “you need to understand the workings of your institution, including the programmatic piece and the teaching piece. You need to believe deeply in the people and philosophies that make up your school. And you need to contribute to its growth in order to meet the evolving expectations of the market.”

Adams is by nature a leader who challenges those around him to think differently and to work progressively to improve themselves and their institution. His involvement in Mercersburg’s all-encompassing program review crystallized for him and for the school just how different today’s world is from the one he and most educators grew up in.

“The way I look at it,” said Adams, “is that teachers today are less the providers of information, and more the ‘coaches’ of that information. Think about it. Anything that teachers teach to a child today is available on the Internet with one or two clicks. So I see teachers not in front of the kids, but more behind them, coaching and helping them to learn for themselves and from each other. That to me is a very striking difference between classroom


teaching today versus thirty years ago.”Adams also thinks that his admissions

experience with primarily high school students has given him a rather unique insight into what a successful incoming freshman looks like, and what kind of elementary and middle-school education is necessary to get into quality high schools.

“I clearly see the difference in the kids coming from an independent school,” he said. “These kids tend to transition much better to a school like Mercersburg because of their experience in schools like The Grosse Pointe Academy.

“Independent schools are the best at bringing out the best in kids,” he said. “And that’s how I see our jobs as educators. Teachers in independent schools, I believe, are quite different in that they really feel they have a definite stake in making the kids successful students, athletes, artists, etc. I don’t think you get that quite to this extent anywhere else.”

So what does Adams see as initiatives or needs for the Academy right out of the gate on July 1?

“For one thing, we need more people coming through these beautiful doors,” he said. “Plus, I want to strengthen relationships with those constituents from the past, i.e., alumni, alumni parents, previous donors, etc.”

“Inquiry is an endless process yet essential if independent schools want to compete in a expanding market of educational options,” Adams continued. “Together, we will work thoughtfully to build a school whose graduates are well-prepared to meet head on the challenges of an ever-changing world. Yet as we move forward, we must always remain true to the institution’s important and meaningful traditions.”

New GPA head Tommy Adams is with his wife, Kendall, and sons Colin, Griffin and Logan in Mercersburg, Pa.


ANOTHER CLASS HEADS TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH THE ACADEMY ‘ADVANTAGE’

GPA’s newest graduates will be attending some of

the finest secondary schools in the country, including

Deerfield Academy, University Liggett, Cranbrook, Choate

Rosemary Hall and the International Academy.

When commencement speaker and Academy alum

Megan Bonanni told the newest class of graduates from

The Grosse Pointe Academy last evening that among the

many pieces of advice they will get before heading to high

school, one of the most important is to “be kind,” it may

have been met with a little bit of nonchalance from those

on the stage.

“But,” Bonanni said, “the truth is when you live a life

where you are kind, like-minded people will come to you.”

It was simple, yet powerful advice.

She told them that high school can be tricky. “It’s

awkward. New high school students are trying to figure

out who they are and frankly they are very emotional,” she

said. “So be kind and surround yourself with like-minded

people who lift you up instead of tearing you down.”

Commencement speaker Megan Bonanni, who

graduated from The Grosse Pointe Academy in 1980, is a

partner at Pitt McGehee Palmer & Rivers PC, a Royal Oak,

Mich., firm specializing in employment law, civil rights,

personal injury and criminal defense. She spoke to the

class and their family and friends as part of the Academy’s

2016 commencement ceremony, which was held June 14

in the school’s Tracy Fieldhouse.

Head of School Lars Kuelling also addressed the new

graduates, who now journey to high school with arguably

a very distinct advantage over most other eighth graders

in the area — “the Academy advantage” is what school

officials typically say.

“Graduates, you have learned a great deal while at GPA,

and now we ask that you take that knowledge and use it

for the good,” Kuelling said. “You are more than ready for

the challenges and responsibilities of high school, and we

know that, but we will miss you nonetheless.”

Kuelling also told the grads that they have

accomplished much as a class. “You’ve distinguished

yourselves in the classroom and the arts, on the athletic

field and in community service – and you have been the

best big buddies that our first graders could have hoped

for,” he said.

“In the process, your teachers and I have seen that

there’s not much that fazes you as a group. You always

impress us with your camaraderie and willingness to

jump right in, no matter the situation. And, that’s why the

phrase ‘Hakuna Matata,’ which means ‘no worries,’ is the

perfect motto for your class. You’ve learned how to enjoy

life while facing challenges head on.”

Academy alum Bonanni also

recounted for the 2016 grads

that even though she herself

went through many of the same

challenges they did when she

was their age, her own GPA

experience was both profound

and dynamic, and that even

though she graduated 36 years

ago, they all share in something

special.

“We share gifts that this

school gave to us and they

are gifts that will carry you

throughout your life; gifts that

will get you through difficult

and challenging experiences,”

she said.

She mentioned two gifts in

particular.

“It is here at the Academy

where I was taught a love of

learning. And it is here where

each individual — and their

uniqueness — is celebrated by

teachers, by administrators.”

“The Academy always made

me feel unique, special, worthy,”

Bonanni told the grads. “And

you will see that there is an

indelible mark left on you — a

mark that only comes from

spending so many years in

a place that promotes such

inclusion, tolerance and respect

for others.”

Academy alum Megan Bonanni (‘80) gave the commencement address at GPA’s 2016 commencement.

GPANEWS


So it is without

question that this

year’s talented class of

29 students, who are

heading to some of the

finest high schools in

the country — including

Deerfield Academy,

University Liggett,

Cranbrook, Choate

Rosemary Hall and the

International Academy

— are leaving 171

Lake Shore Road with an advantage — an advantage that

comes from experiencing at least eight years of the best

“uncommon” education available in southeast Michigan.

Congratulations to The Grosse Pointe Academy’s Class

of 2016:

Shekinah Aho, Justin Ambris, Cesar Arreguin, Katie

Bagby, Weston Brundage, Trey Chennault, Angelo

Cracchiolo, Isabella Cubba, Timmy Donaldson, Megan

Driver, Maria Fields, Haleigh Howard, Noah Humphries,

Tierney Janovsky, Dakota Jones, Oliver Jonsson, Will

Jonsson, Aiden Kuelling, Brooke Popadich, Blake Pradko,

Josh Roberts, Nafi Sall, Christopher Scupholm, Sade Shaw,

Ian Shogren, Emma Smith, Isabella Tomlinson, Matthew

Valente and Molly Woods.

Members of the GPA Class of 2016 have been accepted to some of the finest high schools in the country, including Deerfield Academy, University Liggett, Cranbrook, Choate Rosemary Hall and the International Academy.

Head of School Lars Kuelling address those assembled at the June 14 commencement.

T H E G R O S S E P O I N T E AC A D E M Y | S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 1 1

ACADEMY KINDERGARTNERS CELEBRATE

In a ceremony fit for incoming Grosse Pointe

Academy first graders, the kindergarten Class of 2016

from GPA received their certificates on June 10, which

signaled their successful transition to the first grade

when school resumes in September.

Musical highlights during the ceremony included

“Venez les Amis,” where the children each had a solo

moment introducing himself/herself in French and

“Little Boy of the Sheep”, which included the playing

of xylophones and chimes. Academy teachers Roshell

Chuhran and Claudia Leslie helped prepare the students

through the spring and the program closed with the

“Peace Song” and “This Little Light of Mine.” The

children’s faces really shined when they changed a line

of the song to “First grade here I come!” as they walked

out of the Chapel.

In the photo, from left, are teachers Ida Cherf, Peggy Varty, Kate Kingsley, Mary Jo Carrier and Kathleen Hallas. Students, from left, Madison Cheatham, Enzo Colombo, Christopher Provenzano, Christian Azoury, Luke Brennan, Antonia Randazzo, Dane Willson, Benjamin Clor, Lexi Donaldson, Henry Acheson, Shane Denworth, Alexander Nicholson, Bailei Sheffield, Colin Cotton, Luke Wolney, Zara Banks and Quinn Ryan.

GPANEWS


ACADEMY ANNOUNCES SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 2016-2017 ACADEMIC YEAR

On June 6, 2016, The Grosse Pointe Academy

announced the recipients of special scholarships and

academic awards for the 2016-2017 academic year.

Awardees included Academy students moving from

kindergarten into 1st grade and a number of other

students in the Academy’s first through seventh grades.

Congratulations go to:

Christina Thomas: Brett Bentley Crawford Creative

Writing Award: This award has been established to

honor the memory of Brett Crawford, a 1997 graduate

of The Grosse Pointe Academy. This award is given to

an upcoming eighth-grade girl who possesses the skill

and a passion for creative writing, and has exhibited

the spirited personality necessary to qualify for this

award. The recipient of this award is nominated by and

voted on by the middle school faculty, approved by the

division director and confirmed by the head of school.

Courtney Mecke: Thelma Fox Murray Scholarship

Award: The Thelma Fox Murray award is intended

to honor an upcoming eighth-grade girl who exhibits

“integrity, humility, a sense of humor, athletic

achievement and academic excellence.” The award

recipient is voted on annually by middle school faculty,

approved by the MS division director and confirmed

by the head of school. Award amount determined in

concert with S. Gary Spicer, Trustee.

Thomas Smith: E. Maybelle Spicer, Clark Spicer

and William I. Trader, Jean K. Kurtz Trader

Scholarship Award – (A.K.A. Spicer/Trader

Scholarship Award): The Spicer/Trader Award is

intended to honor an upcoming eighth-grade boy

who has demonstrated to his teachers and classmates,

“success in academics and athletics with a strong

desire to excel.” As such, the award is reflective of the

Academy’s core values and mission. The candidate for

the Spicer/Trader Scholarship Award is nominated

by and voted on by the middle school faculty and

approved by the MS division director and confirmed

by the head of school. Award amount determined in

concert with S. Gary Spicer, Trustee.

Madison Cheatham: Eleanor Wagner Brock

Scholarship: The Ellie Brock scholarship is awarded

to a girl moving from our kindergarten to first grade.

A child who is inquisitive, friendly who is well liked

by her classmates and teachers shall be a candidate for

the award. She will possess, “in addition to academic

promise, the personal characteristics of being vibrant,

happy and lively.” The recipient is nominated and voted

on by the early school faculty, approved by ES division

director, confirmed by the head of school.

Enzo Colombo: Camille DeMario Academic

Scholarship: The Camille DeMario Scholarship is

awarded to a student moving from our kindergarten

to first grade. Any current kindergarten student who

is enrolled in the early school is eligible to apply. The

recipient of the award is selected by the director of

admissions

based on the

highest score of

the first-grade

entrance exam,

approved by

the ES division

director, and

confirmed by

the head of

school.

Julia Harnett:

Alumni

Scholarship:

A candidate is

selected from

grades 1-8 by

the division

directors and head of school based on an application

submitted.

Alexander Kuplicki, Fletcher Klaasen and Gerry

Sherer: Academy Scholars Challenge: The Academy

Scholars Challenge is a merit-based scholarship

that recognizes incoming sixth-grade students of

outstanding potential based on academic record,

teacher recommendations, standardized testing and

a writing sample. Recipients of the award receive an

annual scholarship renewable for all three of their

middle school years.

In a photo above taken after the academic scholarships were announced: front row, from left, Enzo Colombo, Madison Cheatham, Fletcher Klaasen, Gerry Sherer and Alexander Kuplicki. Back row, from left, Jen Kendall (assistant head of school for Early School education and admissions), Lars Kuelling (head of school), Courtney Mecke, Thomas Smith, Christina Thomas and Lawrence DeLuca (assistant head of school for instruction, grades 1-8 principal).


GPA ALUMNA IS SPEAKER AT COMMENCEMENT

When The Grosse Pointe Academy’s Class of 2016

graduated from 8th grade in June, an alumna chosen to

speak at the commencement ceremony presented her

thoughts on education at the next level and how life will

be changing for the soon-to-be high schoolers. But a great

deal of her talk also centered on how deeply affected she

was by her own education at the Academy.

Megan Bonanni, a 1980 Academy alum and civil rights

attorney, who late last year was honored as one of 30

members of the prestigious Class of 2015 “Women in the

Law” group, has been chosen as one of the speakers at the

Academy graduation to be held June 14 on the school’s

Grosse Pointe Farms campus.

In a recent phone interview, Bonanni became a bit

overwhelmed when she began to reminisce and talk about

her days at the Academy.

“Just thinking about the Academy makes me want to

cry,” she said, clearly emotional. “But in a great way.”

She thinks her grade-school was a game changer that

led directly to her doing so well in high school, college and

law school, and that also gave her the drive she needed to

become a successful attorney.

“I have to say it was that unique approach to education

at the Academy, the very individualized approach that

emboldened all of us,” she said. “Every child. . . we all felt

like the world was our oyster. It made learning fun and

definitely helped to boost our self confidence, which was

critical for us at that age.”

Bonanni currently is partner at Pitt McGehee Palmer

& Rivers PC, a Royal Oak firm that specializes in

employment law, civil rights, personal injury and criminal

defense.

Her “Women in the Law” honor last year was preceded

by recognition as one of the “Best Lawyers in America”

and a rating by Crain’s Detroit Business as one of the

leaders in her field. And, in 2011, she was recognized

by The American Lawyer publication as a national “Top

Lawyer.”

In addition to specializing in civil rights and

employment law for Pitt McGehee, Bonanni, who received

her law degree from Wayne State University, volunteers

as an attorney and speaker with the Epilepsy Foundation

and as a mentor with the Women Lawyers Association of

Michigan. She also helped co-sponsor and build homes in

Mexico as part of a Jimmy Carter work project through

Habitat for Humanity. She is a member of the Michigan

Association for Justice, National Employment Lawyers

Association, State Bar of Michigan, the Women Lawyers

Association of Michigan and serves as chair of the Federal

Bar Association Trial Practice and Tactics Sub-Committee.

Fluent in French, Bonanni credits the Academy not

GPA EIGHTH-GRADER GETS MERIT SCHOLARSHIP FROM LIGGETTAcademy eighth-grader Isabella Tomlinson recently was named a Liggett Merit Scholar by University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods. This highly competitive scholarship, which is announced by Liggett each spring, is based on academic achievement, teacher recommendations, interviews, writing samples, test scores and overall potential impact on the Liggett community, drew applicants from throughout the region.

Tomlinson, who lives in Harrison Township, joins five other area students who earned the scholarship, which includes a full- or half-tuition award for four years at Liggett’s upper school. Tomlinson’s scholarship is for full tuition.

A press release issued by Liggett late last month calls Tomlinson an outstanding student and model citizen.

“Isabella exhibits excellent leadership skills as student council president at the Academy and a member of the National Junior Honor Society,” the release continued.”

Tomlinson also earned the prestigious Crane Scholarship from Cranbrook-Kingswood School. In January, her artwork won a “Silver Key” award in the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

only for that second language, which she also studied

in college, but with a life-long appreciation for the

world and the people of the world.

“Back when I was at GPA, we didn’t go overseas like

they do now for class trips, but because of my social

studies and French classes, I started to see my world as

a much larger place,” she said. “I remember that’s when

I put a map in my closet at home, and started putting

push-pins in the countries I wanted to visit when I

grew up. Now I’ve already visited most if not all of

them. So I’m quite sure this need and desire I have to

see the world was because of my early experience at the

Academy.”

She also says it was because of the Academy that she

went through a foreign studies program at Kalamazoo

College, which led to a two-year stint teaching at

a business college in Strasbourg, France. She said

practicing law was not on her radar then, but now that she is an attorney, it kind of

makes sense, especially since she specializes in civil rights law.

“In the Academy at the time, and in my class especially, there were kids from every

walk of life, with very diverse cultural backgrounds,” she recalls. “We were diverse

racially and diverse socioeconomically. There were rich kids. There were poor kids.

A very, very diverse group of students, who while we were all quite different, never

noticed any of those differences.”

She said her friends from the Academy in the heart of Grosse Pointe were the most

diverse group of people that you can imagine.

“And the fact that I’m a civil rights lawyer now. . .I think there’s a real connection

there. It all makes sense now.”

GPANEWS


ALUM SPOTLIGHTED FOR VOLUNTEER WORK WITH DETROIT NONPROFIT

Nineteen-eighty-two Grosse Pointe Academy alum

Michael French is a successful businessman operating

in the automotive, aerospace and defense industries.

But it’s his extracurricular work with a Detroit

nonprofit that this University of New Hampshire

graduate is most proud of.

French is first vice president on the executive

board at Mariners Inn, which is based in downtown

Detroit about a block from Cass Tech High School.

When ground was broken in 1994 for the current

Mariners headquarters, French was on hand because

the “Dainforth Baker French Building” was named for

his father, who along with Michael’s grandfather had

a substantial part in getting the facility financed and

built.

In a blog post published recently by the Mariners Inn

organization, Erica N. Rakowicz writes about Michael

French and how he is carrying on his family’s legacy

at what in 2013 was named one of Crain’s Detroit

Business magazine’s “Best-Managed Nonprofits.”

SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT: MICHAEL FRENCH, MARINERS INN BOARD MEMBER

By Erica N. Rakowicz

Michael French, a three-year-and-counting member

of the board at Mariners Inn, was first introduced to the

establishment in 1994.

French’s father passed away in 1990 and French

remembers going to a groundbreaking ceremony and

unveiling of the Dainforth Baker French building,

named after his father, at Mariners Inn.

French’s grandfather donated funds in order to build

the Dainforth Baker French building at Mariners Inn

and ever since, Mariners Inn has been an organization

that French has always kept in mind. About four years

ago, French was driving downtown with his kids and

he drove past the building and told his kids the history

of it.

“They said it was the coolest thing they’d ever seen,”

French said. After seeing their reaction and thinking

more on it himself, French decided it was time to get

involved.

“It was a way for me to carry on the legacy of my

dad,” French said.

As a board member and volunteer, French is most

proud of the missions at Mariners Inn, including the

mission of reconnecting fathers with their families.

“It’s right in the heart of Detroit and we need to ride

the wave of this resurgence in Detroit and it needs to

be complemented by helping those who are so critical

to helping the rebirth of Detroit,” French said of the

organization. “Who better to focus in on that the

fathers?”

Around the holidays, Mariners Inn engages in many

giving back initiatives, one of which is spearheaded by

the residents themselves. The Adopt-A-Family program

at Mariners Inn came to be after a group of residents

decided they would give back to the community that

gives back to them.

French said the enormity of an act like that is

amazing and it’s his favorite time of year. His favorite

part of the festivities is watching families open their

gifts while they’re enjoying a luncheon with Mariners

Inn.

“We need strong families in Detroit and Mariners is a

key component,” French said.

French spends his free time going to sports games

downtown with his family and sampling all the new

restaurants in town. He also likes to get the word out

about Mariners Inn whenever he can to friends, family

and strangers alike.

There’s a sort of passion that’s hard to explain

bouncing around the halls of Mariners Inn, French said,

and he believes it’s contagious.

“You kind of get bit by the Mariners bug,” he said.

“Get involved. All it takes is to walk in the doors of

Mariners Inn, take a quick tour around and it’s a life

changer.

MORE ABOUT MARINERS INN: Founded in 1925 by the Episcopal Diocese of

Michigan, Mariners Inn is a nationally acclaimed,

licensed, full-service treatment center providing

substance abuse treatment, shelter, and supportive

services to Southeast Michigan’s homeless men.

Mariners Inn holds the most prestigious three-

year accreditation through the Commission for the

Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), is

licensed to provide integrated treatment, and is one of

Detroit’s premier treatment providers.


CLEAN WATER FOR 5,000Natalie Relich, a 2001 graduate of The Grosse Pointe

Academy who already has devoted a significant portion

of her still-young life to making the world a better place

for its citizens, is

well on the way

to a new project

that will bring

desperately needed

clean water to more

than 5,000 people

in Bangladesh.

Relich currently

is executive director

of the OHorizons

Foundation, a

nonprofit based

in New York City,

that is working

to improve the

health, livelihood,

and productivity of

hungry and thirsty

people around the

world.

Relich and her

colleagues are

already providing

help to the people of South Asia.

“We are moving forward with a 1,000-filter project

in Bangladesh this year,” she said. “Our partner

organization is building a production facility right

now and will have made and installed 1,000 filters by

summer, which will give approximately 5,000 people

the clean water they desperately need.”

A public policy major at the University of Michigan,

Relich finished her university career at NYU with a

master’s degree in public administration. She said

she decided to get an MPA in New York because she’s

always wanted to go into the field of international

development and New York seemed like a great place

to study this since it’s home to many development and

internationally focused organizations.

But even though in college she considered public

policy likely her life’s calling, it wasn’t until Relich did

more of her own research on a particularly troubling

environmental issue on the planet that she eventually

jumped in with both feet to try to affect real change for

people—specifically for people suffering from a lack of

clean water and sanitation.

“Around the world, a child dies about every thirty

seconds from diarrhea,” Relich said, “And it’s typically

caused by lack of access to safe drinking water and

sanitation. To help combat this, my organization,

OHorizons, works with very inexpensive, concrete

‘biosand filters’ (BSFs), which are water-filtration

devices for household use in developing countries such

as Bangladesh, Mali and now hopefully India.”

Relich also is exploring working further on the

African continent to bring clean water where it is

needed.

“We’re going to be supporting a small pilot program

in Kenya,” she said, “where a local organization will

be making around 100 of our filters, which will give

approximately 500 people clean water in their homes

for the first time.”

Relich said to stay tuned because OHorizons has a

few other potential projects in the works, “but those are

the two definite new ones for now.”

Relich also noted that her firm has received

numerous inquiries since the water crisis began in

Flint, Mich., but while she and her colleagues do want

to help, she said there currently has not been enough

research done yet.

“We are now looking to engage a research

organization to study the ability of our filter to remove

heavy metals [such as lead],” said a statement released

earlier this month by Relich and OHorizons. “In the

meantime, we will keep the people of Flint and all the

people around the globe dealing with a water crisis in

our hearts and minds.”

GPANEWS


FORMER ACADEMY STUDENT GOES TO PARIS TO WORK ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Former Grosse Pointe Academy student Jesse Paris

Smith was in Paris in early December for the Pathways to

Paris concerts, which were held December 4 and 5. Smith

and co-organizer Rebecca Foon says the concerts “brought

our voices together in solidarity, offering our love and

commitment to a sustainable world.”

Billed as a series of musical performances and talks “to

unite around our climate and a sustainable future for our

planet,” the Pathway to Paris is an initiative founded by

musicians/activists Smith and Foon in partnership with

350.org that brings together musicians, artists, activists,

academics, politicians and innovators to participate in

a series of concert events to help raise consciousness

around the urgency of climate action and the importance

of establishing an ambitious, global, legally binding

agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris

in December 2015.

Pathway to Paris kicked off more than a year ago with

an intimate evening of music and speakers at Le Poisson

Rouge immediately following the People’s Climate March

in New York City in September 2014. An intimate series

of similar events have been unfolding in New York and

Montreal since then. The

Pathway to Paris concert

series culminated in Paris

during the UN Climate

Change Conference.

Smith said the climate

change talks offered an

enormous opportunity to

send a clear signal that the

world is moving away from

fossil fuels “and toward a

renewable energy future,

while listening and problem

solving with voices from

around the world.”

Scheduled musicians,

artists and activists in Paris for the concert included Bill

McKibben, Naomi Klein, Vandanna Shiva, Patti Smith,

Thom York, Flea, Dhani Harrison, Tenzin Choegyal, Jesse

Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon.

EIGHTH GRADER FROM THE ACADEMY IS A SCHOLASTIC ART AWARD WINNER

Isabella Tomlinson,

a graduated eighth

grader from The

Grosse Pointe Academy

middle school, learned

in January that she is

a “Silver Key” winner

in the prestigious

2016 Scholastic Art

& Writing Awards.

Tomlinson submitted

her photo illustration,

which she calls “Escape

From The Fire,” to

Scholastic late last year

for consideration.

Students in grades 7–12 across the country and its U.S.

territories as well as American schools abroad are invited

in the fall of each year to submit creative and original

work in any of the Awards’ 29 art and writing categories,

including architecture, photography, flash fiction, poetry,

painting, video game design and more.

Previous Scholastic Art & Writing award winners

include Andy Warhol, Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Indiana

and Ken Burns.

For 93 years, the Scholastic Awards, which are

sponsored by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists &

Writers, have identified the early promise of some of the

nation’s most accomplished visionaries and encouraged

young artists and writers to pursue a variety of creative

career paths and endeavors.

CORRECTED CAPTION from the Fall 2015 The Ac-ademic: From left, former Grosse Pointe Academy students Jesse Paris Smith and Jackson Smith are with Jackson’s wife, Lisa, their mother, Patti Smith, and friend Mike Pigeon.

GPA alum Jesse Paris Smith, right, is with her Pathways to Paris co-organizer Rebecca Foon.

T H E G R O S S E P O I N T E AC A D E M Y / S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 1 7

FIVE FOR FIVE FOR 8TH GRADERAt the time of the school year when most high school

seniors are looking beyond graduation to the next step

in their academic career: college. So too were most 8th

graders looking forward to their next academic stop,

which for them usually is in an area high school.

But for some in 8th grade, they were looking

somewhere else completely as the school year comes to

a close: the mailbox. That’s because it’s usually around

late winter and spring when most of the nation’s more

prominent boarding schools send acceptance letters to

prospective student applicants.

For one of those students, Grosse Pointe Academy’s

Nafissatou (Nafi) Sall, who just graduated from the

eighth grade, her “mailbox-looking” turned up five

boarding school acceptance letters. Which is quite a

feat for any student. But in Sall’s case, she only applied

to five — Deerfield Academy, Choate Rosemary Hall,

Peddie School, The Lawrenceville School and Loomis

Chaffee School — all of which appear on numerous

listings of the top 20 boarding schools in America.

“Five for five!” was the excited comment from

Assistant Head of School for Instruction and Grades 1-8

Principal Lawrence DeLuca after finding out from Sall’s

mother, Erica Thrash-Sall, that Nafi received her fifth

acceptance letter — from Choate, which also offered

Sall the “Paul Mellon ’25 Scholars” scholarship, which

specifically is for students of strong character who have

demonstrated academic excellence and drive in the

study of math, computer science, and/or science.

CRANE SCHOLARSHIPS APLENTYDeLuca said there have been a number of Academy

students over the years who have been accepted to

and received scholarships from the nation’s more elite

schools. He said many also receive scholarships and

acceptances to Cranbrook Kingswood in Bloomfield

Hills, including current GPA 8th graders Maria Fields

and Isabella Tomlinson.

“Our students are accepted to the best schools in

metro Detroit and across the country,” DeLuca said.

“Last year, our students attended 11 different high

schools, and it looks like that number will be very

similar this year. Coming to The Grosse Pointe Academy

really is a great choice for parents as our students

consistently gain acceptance to the high schools of their

choice.”

Beside Fields and Tomlinson, who also earned a

full-ride scholarship to University Liggett, DeLuca said

recent GPA grads McCalla Mecke, Piero Cavataio and

Joseph Cavataio received the prestigious merit-based

Crane Scholarship from Cranbrook. Plus, he said,

current 8th-grader Brooke Popadich has been accepted

to Choate, The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, and is

currently wait-listed at Phillips Exeter Academy in New

Hampshire, a school that typically accepts less than 10

percent of applicants.

For Nafi Sall, however, she says she’s decided to

definitely head east in the fall to attend Deerfield, a

boarding school located a few hours outside of Boston.

Deerfield routinely accepts only 13 percent of its

applicants, which is 78 percent lower than the average

for all secondary boarding schools. The school also says

its incoming students typically score 87% on the SSAT

and score an average of 2000 on the SAT, which is 15

percent higher than the average for all boarding schools

in the U.S.

‘I knew it was for me’

Even though Deerfield, Mass., is a long way from

Grosse Pointe Farms, Sall said she will never forget her

time at the Academy, which for her began in the 3rd

grade.

“I will truly miss the Grosse Pointe Academy,” Sall

said. “I started GPA six years ago, and the minute I set

foot into the school, I knew it was just for me. GPA has

such a friendly and open environment, and provides

so many opportunities for each student to grow. I have

become the person I was born to be because of GPA and

I am utterly grateful for these past years.

“I have learned how to be a leader, how to work with

my classmates and how to work to my potential,” she

added.

Her mother, Erica Thrash-Sall, is equally grateful for

the future potential the Academy has brought not only

Nafi Sall, second from right, was one of three GPA 8th graders to recently win the annual America & Me essay contest sponsored by Farm Bureau Insurance. Pictured with Sall, from left, are language arts teacher Bridgette Murray, Shekinah Aho, Tierney Janovsky and Farm Bureau Insurance agent Colleen Dryer.

GPANEWS


ACADEMY EIGHTH GRADER WINS WXYZ-SCRIPPS SPELLING BEE

After eight grueling rounds of increasingly difficult

words to spell, The Grosse Pointe Academy’s Maria

Fields came home as the overall winner of the annual

WXYZ-Scripps Spelling Bee.

Her winning word was “stratocracy,” and the

word that propelled her into the final round was

“endotracheal.”

Fields moved on to the 89th annual Scripps National

Spelling Bee, which was held May 24-26, 2016, in Oxon

Hill, Maryland, where she competed into multiple

rounds.

ABOUT THE SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEEAs the nation’s largest and longest-running

educational program, the Scripps National Spelling

Bee has proven itself as more than a competition for

children; it has become a classic element of Americana.

Last year’s primetime competition on ESPN led to the

Bee being the most tweeted show of the week.

Academy eighth-grader Maria Fields, left, is with middle-school social studies and language arts teacher, Harriett Whitaker, and the trophy Fields earned at the 2016 WXYZ-Scripps Spelling Bee.

to Nafi, but to her son, Amadou, a current sixth grader

at the Academy.

“Having our children attend The Grosse Pointe

Academy is one of the best decisions that we’ve ever

made,” Erica said. “The teachers have been wonderful.

They truly care about the students and they recognize

and encourage their strengths.”

She said she especially loves how GPA concentrates

on developing the whole child, whether it be

academically, artistically, physically and spiritually.

“The R.E.A.L. electives, school trips and experiences

with speakers sharing expert knowledge in the

classroom are enrichment experiences that my children

will never forget,” she said.

She also thinks the relationships that her family has

built up with other families in the school community

have been very important during their time at GPA.

“The school community is strong and it has made

my children feel so supported,” she said. “My children

have a lot of school spirit and are very proud to attend

GPA. They value the education and appreciate all of the

opportunities that they have had at GPA.”

‘Amazing teacher, amazing person’

Certainly, it’s way too early to have definite career

goals yet, but Nafi Sall still has some idea of how she

wants to spend her life after finishing college. “I plan

to explore careers in the field of science because I am

passionate about biology and chemistry,” she said, and

it’s pretty clear she holds one particular teacher at the

Academy responsible for that passion.

“While I have truly enjoyed all of my teachers at The

Grosse Pointe Academy and I have felt supported and

encouraged by all of them, my chemistry teacher, cross

country coach and former math teacher, Mrs. Michelle

Roberts, has been a role model, mentor, and one of my

favorite teachers of all time. She is caring, helpful, and

not just an amazing teacher, but an amazing person.”

BITTERSWEET TIME OF THE YEARGPA principal DeLuca said that for the school

community, it’s usually bittersweet when eighth graders

finally graduate in the spring.

“It’s always tough to see such great kids leave, but

at the same time, it’s such a great feeling to know

that they leave with all of the tools necessary to fully

succeed at the next level.”


ACADEMY STUDENTS IN R.E.A.L. PROGRAM GO TO COLLEGE

Middle school students wrapped up a very busy week of R.E.A.L. (Real Experiences and Applied Learning) classes a month or so ago by learning about all things graphic arts at the renowned College for Creative Studies in Detroit.

While a number of their classmates were in Europe that week on a class trip, students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades have been taking advantage of all the opportunities provided by the Academy’s innovative R.E.A.L. program, which engages students in real-world tasks that extend classroom learning, employ cross-disciplinary thinking, make connections to the world outside of their classroom walls, and create innovative solutions and products as a result of their work.

In other words, they are learning what the real world of work is really like!

On Tuesday of the week, the students found out how to “build a brand” at Airfoil Group, a marketing and public relations firm in Royal Oak, where they learned first-hand from real professionals how to market and keep fresh the product websites they’ve been working on and how best to maintain consumer interest in their products.

Wednesday had the students at Oak Park-based Ringside Creative, a multi-media production company that works with Ford, the Detroit Red Wings and DMC among many other clients. GPA students learned from professional, creative artists and production personnel who make films and videos, many of which are seen worldwide. Over the course of the R.E.A.L. program, students in the Academy’s “GPA Studios” course will write, film and direct videos with an opportunity at the end to publish their finished products.

“Mr. DeLuca (middle-school principal) and I are again working with the students on video production,” said, Megan Black, who is the technology and learning specialist for GPA’s middle

school. “The student filmmakers have scripted, storyboarded and filmed their productions and then began the process of editing their short, narrative films.”

Friday’s visit to CCS helped introduce the students to how graphic designers in the “real world” use design, art, and technology to communicate meaningful messages to others.

“Along with learning about the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of design software, each student worked on design planning for a project of their choice, where they can focus on things like digital photography, editorial design, computer graphics, advertising design, and more,” Black added.

Other R.E.A.L. courses at GPA for 2016 included:

- 8 Mile Zone (8MZ), a journalism course that will expose the students to different kinds of journalism — written, television, and radio. Students will be introduced to the importance of solid journalism and some of its more basic techniques, and will discuss journalism in the 21st century to learn more about some of the more important times in history in which journalism played a major part. On the last day of the course, students will try their hands at creating a news piece, which could perhaps be inspired by another GPA R.E.A.L. class. Also, a visit to WDET, Detroit’s public radio station, will highlight the 8MZ experience. There the students will have the opportunity to meet working journalists to discuss their experiences in journalism.

- the Cryptography class, which will involve students learning how to send and receive secret messages using both historical and modern methods. Rotation and substitution ciphers, one-time pads, symmetric-key, public-key and steganographic systems will all be explored. In addition, students will learn the basics of code-breaking with hands-on activities. A live video-conferencing session with a cryptographer from the U.S. intelligence community also is planned as a final activity.

- and the CSI class, where students will learn crime-scene-analysis techniques, such as document analysis, finger-printing, blood typing, chromatography, tire track evaluation, and footprint analysis. Students also will attempt to identify unknown substances and fibers as well as tool marks and glass fractures. At the end of the course, students will meet with a crime lab scientist and local police.

GPANEWS


‘SUPER’ GRADOn January 17, former Grosse Pointe Academy

student Bennie Fowler came up with arguably the

biggest catch of the season up to that point for the

Denver Broncos in its AFC divisonal playoff game

against Pittsburgh.

Quarterback Peyton Manning and the Broncos faced

a third-and-12 at their own 33-yard line with 8:40 left,

trailing the Steelers 13-12.

Denver, to that point, was just 1-of-12 on third-down

conversions and Fowler had one catch for four yards.

But on this pivotal play, Fowler, who currently

is listed third on the Broncos’ depth chart as wide

receiver, lined up in the slot and beat Pittsburgh

cornerback Brandon Boykin on an in-route, and then

broke a tackle attempt by safety Will Allen to pick up

another 13 yards.

Nine plays later, the Broncos scored the go-ahead

touchdown that put Denver up for good in a game

that took them to the AFC championship game where

they defeated New England. Fowler and his Broncos

teammates went on to the February 7 Super Bowl in San

Francisco where they beat the Carolina Panthers. 24-10.

Fowler, a 2005 graduate of the Academy, who played

high school football at Detroit Country Day and then

in college at Michigan State University, signed with the

Broncos in 2014 as a free agent. He made Denver’s active

roster this past year after spending his first season on

the team’s practice squad.

GPA, DCD AND MSU ACCOLADESFowler’s on-field and in-classroom prowess began

at the Academy, where, in 2005, just before graduating

from the eighth grade, he was named “Athlete of the

Season,” an honor given each year to a student-athlete

who excels in athletic achievements, leadership abilities,

academic performance and citizenship.

At GPA, Fowler was the co-captain and leading scorer

of the boys varsity basketball team, and set a school

record for points in a season, which led to him being

named most valuable player by his teammates. Fowler

also played on the school’s lacrosse team and was listed

on the school’s prestigious “citizenship” list.

At Detroit Country Day, he was named an honorable

mention all-state selection by the Associated Press as a

senior all-purpose player (1,478 yards and 15 TDs).

He appeared in 44 games (15 starts) during his

collegiate career with the Spartans and recorded 93

catches for 1,341 yards (14.4 avg.) with 11 touchdowns

in addition to 16 rushes for 102 yards (6.4 avg.) and one

score.

Fowler, who was an economics major at MSU, also

had 15 kickoff returns for 336 yards (22.4 avg.) for the

Spartans and led the team in receiving yards (622) and

receiving touchdowns (6) on 36 catches (17.3 avg.) as a

senior in 2013.

For the Broncos in the 2015 season, Fowler

had 16 catches for 203 yards, for a 12.7 yards-per-

catch average.


TREASURE ISLAND VINTNERBryan Kane graduated from The Grosse Pointe

Academy in 1980. Since then he’s earned a BBA from the

University of Michigan and an MBA from UCLA. After

school, he remained on the West Coast, working in Silicon

Valley for a number of software and tech firms, including

Apple Computer and Oracle Corporation.

Although he’s no longer involved full-time in the

software industry, Kane still keeps one toe in it with his

over 20 years of experience in strategic alliances, business

development, and product marketing and management.

But what’s got the rest of Kane’s toes and both feet even

more involved in is winemaking, an industry, like the tech

industry, also heavily centered in northern California.

Strangely enough, though, making wine in San Francisco

proper, the city that anchors all things northern California,

has been rare.

That is until Kane got involved.

“I’ve been making wine in San Francisco for as long

or longer than anyone else,” Kane said in a recent video

interview. “That’s since about 2004 when I first started in a

place in the Mission District.”

This award-winning winemaker now operates a

thriving 20,000 sq. ft. winemaking and event facility still

in the city but on Treasure Island, which straddles the San

Francisco Bay between downtown San Francisco and the

City of Oakland.

Kane has taken an old U.S. Navy airplane hangar,

turned it into the “Winery SF” and transformed it into the

place to be for California wine in the big city.

“Winery SF is about bringing that whole California

wine experience to the people in the city and to be part

of the community,” he said. “Our promise is to bring an

affordable and accessible wine to the community and to

give back to the community.”

Kane said the operation has contributed tens of

thousands of dollars back to various civic activities in San

Francisco, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation. He’s

also proud of the fact that Winery SF uses winemaking

methods that are earth-friendly.

“We are good to the earth,” he said. “We use sustainable

methods and earth-friendly bottles, which is important

to us as a certified sustainable winery and ‘natural

winemaker.’ I wanted to bring all of that ‘goodness’ to San

Francisco, the city I live in and love.”

BITTEN BY THE WINE BUG EARLYBefore the Winery SF, Kane had been a wine enthusiast

and collector for years. While his first exposure to the

wine industry was as a consumer, his passion for distinct

and interesting wine led him to become immersed in the

wine industry—first as a collector and then as a home

winemaker.

Going back as far as the time he spent in grad school at

UCLA, he was exploring winemaking even as he pursued

a career in tech. He began by making wine at home, but

after learning as much as he could from the winemakers

he respected, Kane gradually improved on his own

winemaking skills.

“I started off as an enthusiast, but was very fortunate to

work with some great winemakers along the way,” he said.

But, after years of begging top vineyards for “seconds”

(grapes left on the vine by the purchasing winery) or

commercial winemakers for a couple of hundred pounds

of grapes for his home winemaking, he said it was time to

take the next step.

So in 2004, Kane was convinced by a friend (and fellow

home winemaker) to begin making wine commercially at

his crush facility. In an effort to share his passion for wine,

especially great Zinfandel- and Rhone-based wines, with

others, Kane formed his first commercial winemaking

business called Vie Wines, which is one of the wines

featured at the Winery SF.

Kane also owns a vineyard north of Napa Valley, and

between the grapes he grows himself and those he sources

from other vineyards in the area, he makes and markets

wines branded as Vie, Winery SF and Sol Rouge, the latter

of which he said is focused on producing wines from

grapes descended from Southern France’s Rhone and

Bordeaux regions.

“We are currently partnering with vineyards in

California who produce these varietals and who have

distinct soil profiles similar to our terroir and those

microclimates similar to that of these great wine regions

of France,” Kane said.

AWARD-WINNING WINEMAKERFrance and San Francisco are a long way from the

Grosse Pointe Farms campus of the Academy where he

attended grade school, but it appears that Kane in his

adopted hometown in California is doing just fine now

with his wine.

In 2013, Winery SF was voted one of San Francisco’s

best wineries, and his various brands have earned a barrel

full of awards over the years, including a gold medal in

the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (2015) for

his 2013 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast; a silver medal in the

8th Annual American Fine Wine Competition (2015) for

his 2013 Chardonnay; and double gold medal from the

American Fine Wine Competition, best of class from the

San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (2014) and the

Top Cabernet Sauvignon under $25 in America from the

American Fine Wine Competition for his 2010 Cabernet

Sauvignon.

GPANEWS


Dear friends,

With summer approaching, it brings with it a time

for celebrating and perhaps relaxing with family and

friends. I find myself steeped in memories of the past,

gratefully reflecting on history and looking forward

with hope to the future. As alumnae/i of our school,

we have both a rich, invaluable history on which to

reflect and a bright future to witness. Though this

is not unique to our school, few can claim a story as

fascinating as ours.

As you know, our story began in 1800 just after

the height of the French Revolution when Madeleine

Sophie Barat founded the Society of the Sacred Heart.

It was their mission to make known the love of God

in the world and to restore Christian life to France by

providing a classical education to young women which

was not common in their day. Women had become the

new hope for France as a result of the revolution that

took the lives of so many men.

In 1818, another courageous Sacred Heart woman

named Philippine Duchesne rose above her own

troubles and set sail from Bordeaux, France

on a ship called “The Rebecca”. An image of

that ship is carved on the altar in our chapel.

After a two month, treacherous crossing,

Philippine landed near New Orleans, traveled

up the Mississippi River to St. Charles, Missouri

where despite all of the austerities of frontier

life, she opened the first Sacred Heart School in

the United States. It was in a log cabin that is

also memorialized on our altar. The Academy’s

story began with these two remarkable women,

who incidentally were canonized by the Vatican

many years later.

Sophie’s vision along with Philippines courage

resulted in scores of Sacred Heart schools opening

around the world with over 200 schools in 44 countries

still in existence 215 years later. In 1867, the Society of

the Sacred Heart came to Grosse Pointe after obtaining

the ribbon farm on which our school – The Grosse

Pointe Academy was built.

Here is where the Alumni Association becomes so

very significant.

Perhaps the most important date in The Grosse

Pointe Academy’s history came in 1969 when, as a

result of necessary restructuring, the Society of the

Sacred Heart made the difficult decision to close this

school. Our beautiful buildings were scheduled for

demolition and the land was to be used as the site for

condominiums. It is nearly impossible to imagine that

this would have been anything but tragic. However,

with a ticking clock, against all odds and nearly

insurmountable obstacles, echoing Sophie’s vision and

Philippines courage, a group of alumni families pooled

their re-sources and saved our school from destruction.

The Grosse Pointe Academy is a direct result of

talented, determined and loyal alumni who locked arms

and decided to make this happen.

As we alumnae/i experience the end of another

school year, let us be reminded of our rich history

and the perseverance of those that have led us here

today and let us also ask ourselves how we might carry

that history into the future and ensure the continued

success of our school.

In the heart,

Roselie Bellanca Posselius (‘73)

Roselie Bellanca Posselius is a 1973 graduate of the Academy of the Sacred Heart.

ABOUTASH&GPA


STATE OF THE SCHOOL FEATURES 2012 GRADUATE

James Raudabaugh, a 2012 Academy graduate who spoke at GPA’s February 9 State of the School event, was finishing up his last semester at the International Academy, a highly rated school that consistently finishes near the top of U.S. News and World Report’s list of the best high schools in Michigan.

What actually got him to IA, a school that offers the rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum to its students, was a well-thought-out written entrance test, a mother who managed to assuage Raudabaugh’s fears that the school may not be right for him, and eight years at The Grosse Pointe Academy.

“My time at GPA really helped me gain the confidence and self-awareness I needed to make the choice to go to the IA in the first place,” Raudabaugh said. “I initially was worried that IA was a school only for future engineers and doctors and I’ve always known I wanted to definitely pursue a different path. But the best advice my mom gave me was that I should start at the IA, which begins its school year two weeks before Grosse Pointe South, and if it didn’t feel right, since I also was enrolled at South, I could go to plan B and start at South after Labor Day without missing any school days.”

But at the end of only his first day at IA in mid-August, he told his mom to “un-enroll” him from South.

“I knew on day one it was the right place for me, even though getting up at 6:15 a.m. on school days has been hard at times and the carpool across town to Troy made after-school activities a challenge,” he said. “But my mother always tried to pick me up when I had to stay late for something.”

Raudabaugh adds that there were a number of students from his GPA class who wrote the entrance exam for IA, three of whom ended up attending the school with him.

According to Raudabaugh’s mother, Susan Gittins, a

Toronto native who now works in the Detroit area for a global consulting firm, the transition from GPA to IA for her son was very smooth.

“His only initial disappointment was not being able to take Mandarin at IA since he studied and enjoyed it at GPA,” she said. “But he quickly picked up Spanish instead and last year he actually spent time in Spain living with a family and attending a Spanish high school.”

FROM CHICAGO TO GROSSE POINTE FARMSRaudabaugh lived the first six years of his life

in Chicago with his family and had been in a Montessori preschool in Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago. When the family moved to the Detroit area, his mom spent a lot of time looking for the right school for him to start first grade.

“First of all, I wanted James to be with other kids who also had transitioned from a Montessori background into a more conventional academic program,” Gittins said. She said her original plan was to move into the Birmingham/Bloomfield area and send her son to either Cranbrook or the Academy of the Sacred Heart.

But a redirection to the Grosse Pointe area for the family led to a meeting with then-admissions director Molly McDermott and a tour of GPA.

“I did research other schools in the Pointes, but GPA was the only one to meet all my requirements,” Gittins said. “The Academy easily ticked off all my ‘must-have’ boxes, starting with the first one: having a language class in grade one. Number two was having gym/movement/exercise every day. Three was a Montessori early school so James would transition to the classroom environment alongside other children coming from Montessori; four was early music study, and finally, number five, having all of this in a beautiful and welcoming environment.”

Gittins said she can’t say enough good things about the experience she and James had at The Grosse Pointe Academy. And she said she’s always been at the ready to defend the cost of a GPA education.

“My philosophy always has been to invest in the early years of education and then see the ROI in the high school years,” she said. “By the time kids get to high school, usually habits are already formed, including good and bad ones. I was comfortable sending my child to a public school for high school as I was confident the foundation

Academy alum James Raudabaugh as a GPA eighth-grader is with his mother, Susan Gittins, in an Action Auction photo.

GPANEWS


had already been laid at GPA.” It was worth every penny, she said. “What I paid for were all the must-haves I mentioned before,” she adds.

“Plus, studies show that language and music, along with regular exercise, are instrumental in developing young minds. I’m not saying that DNA doesn’t also play into it, but private schools can offer all the stimulants you need to give your child the best possible start in their education career.”

FOCUS ON FILM SCHOOLFor James Raudabaugh, even though he’s not yet started college,

he’s already got pretty clear career plans and goals. He wants to make movies—“movies that matter”—he said, and when he gets to college in the fall, he’s going to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and major in film production.

He’s been accepted thus far to Emerson College in Boston, University of Michigan, University of Denver, Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of Windsor. He is awaiting word on Northwestern, Syracuse University, Vassar, Wesleyan, Oberlin and Concordia University in Montreal, all of which should be able to accommodate his expected degree in the arts.

“Making movies is what makes me the happiest,” Raudabaugh said. “I’ve always had a camera in my hand. I love the creative outlet of putting ideas into a visual format. Although I am not a very good artist in the conventional sense when it comes to drawing or painting, I think I have a strong artistic mindset. So film has been a good outlet for me, combined with music.”

Raudabaugh established a film club at the International Academy and has acted in a number of the school’s drama club productions, including most recently, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” He also plays guitar for IA’s jazz band and is the president of his school choir.

A busy young man to be sure. But getting back and giving back to The Grosse Pointe Academy also has been a regular feature for Raudabaugh.

Each fall for the past several years, he’s on the Academy’s campus quite often as he helps out with the school’s cross-country teams. He notes that it’s a sport that anyone can do and the feeling of accomplishment it leaves you with as you improve your time or even just finish the course is powerful for gaining self confidence.

“I also love the look of satisfaction on the kids’ faces as they cross the finish line,” he said.

Raudabaugh also helps out at the Academy during the summer with its innovative Camp Invention, one of the school’s most popular summer camps.

An added bonus, he said, is that whenever he comes back to GPA, he gets to hang out with some of the teachers he had at the school.

“I have fond memories of Mr. Lapadot in grades four and five,” he said. “And Mr. Cowan, Mrs. Jerome, Mrs. Roberts, and my Mandarin teacher, Lucia Hu, all were favorites as well. But, really, I can say I’ve always had positive teacher experiences the whole time I was at the Academy.”


ALUM AND UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR PRESENTS IMPORTANT RESEARCH AT PRESTIGIOUS CONFERENCE

Dr. Bradley J. Murg, a Grosse

Pointe Academy alum (’93) and

assistant professor of political

science and director of global

development studies at Seattle

Pacific University in Seattle,

Washington, presented a paper

in the fall at a prestigious

conference in Washington, D.C. Titled “A Different

Type of Resource Curse: Foreign Direct Investment

and the Political Economy of Civil Court Reform in

Kazakhstan,” the paper was introduced October 16 at

the Central Eurasian Studies Society annual conference

at George Washington University in D.C.

A member of SPU’s School of Business, Government,

and Economics, Murg’s research is supported by

grants from the Social Science Research Council and

the International Research and Exchanges Board,

and focuses on legal reform, the political economy of

foreign aid, and economic development in China and

the former Soviet Union.

Murg has been busy of late as he spent last summer

in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, researching Chinese aid

policy in the region. He also works regularly as a

consultant/adviser to the Asian Development Bank

on development issues in East Asia. In addition

to these areas, Murg is an active member of the

American Catholic Philosophical Association and he is

currently working on a series of articles exploring the

conceptualization of poverty in contemporary Catholic

social thought.

Murg graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Emory

University, where he also completed his master’s

degree, focusing on the moral philosophy of St.

Thomas Aquinas. He is a recipient of the Henry

Luce, William Fulbright, Morris Udall, and Henry M.

Jackson fellowships and holds a M.Sc. in Economic

History from the London School of Economics. His

doctoral dissertation was on legal reform and economic

development in China, Russia, and Kazakhstan at

the University of Washington. He is fluent in French,

Russian, and Mandarin Chinese with proficiency in

German, Dutch, Uighur, Tagalog and Latin.

In a further update for the Academy, Murg says his

brother, Cameron, also a GPA grad, is an investment

banker in Los Angeles, and sister, Stephanie (GPA

alum), is a writer covering contemporary art and design

in New York City.

STRONG STATE OF THE SCHOOLWhen The Grosse Pointe Academy hosted

its annual “State of the School” meeting in the school’s Tracy Fieldhouse, parents, faculty and staff were on hand to listen to Academy Board of Trustees Chair John Murphy and Head of School Lars Kuelling give an update on progress during the past 12 months at the Grosse Pointe Farms private school.

A special presentation by Academy alum James Raudabaugh was one of the highlights of the evening.

In addition, Jennifer Fauster, chair of the school’s head of school search committee, presented an update on potential candidates, and Fred Rollins, a member of the board’s finance committee, discussed the school’s financial picture.

Rollins, who noted that the school is in better shape financially than it has been for some time, talked about the gap between tuition and how much it actually costs to educate each child at the Academy.

“The administration and the finance committee of the Board of Trustees have worked diligently to cut costs in all areas that do not directly impact our students learning experience,” Rollins said.

He noted that tuition covers about 69% of the cost to educate a GPA student. “But that leaves

31% of costs that must be made up elsewhere,” he said.

Rollins pointed out that since GPA is a private school and receives no local, state or federal funding help, its primary means to make up the cost gap is by donor support with the Academy Fund, the Action Auction and endowment transfers.

He said that a number of factors have contributed of late to the school’s positive financial picture, including expense rationalization and proactive cash management; strong donor support for the annual fund and auction; reasonable tuition levels and a

prudent investment strategy.

FACULTY EXCELLENCEHead of School Lars Kuelling told those

in attendance that there were many positive developments that occurred in terms of academic “teaching and learning,” and highlighted the ISACS (Independent Schools Association of the Central States) accreditation process that concluded last spring.

He said the ISACS review team had a number of major commendations for GPA in their final

report, including a dedicated, compassionate, flexible and loyal faculty, staff and administration; a “family feel” that characterizes school community; leadership of the school at the governance level that is intensely focused on the long-term financial sustainability of GPA; and the courage to explore emerging, distinguishing programs like STEAM, 1-to-1 computing, R.E.A.L., and the garden classroom.

“I’d like to highlight one of their major commendations for GPA, which to no surprise to anyone here tonight is the quality of our faculty

A special presentation by Academy alum James Raudabaugh, above, was one of the highlights of the State of the School event.

GPANEWS


and staff,” he said. “ISACS also recommended that we continue to tap into that facility in even stronger ways.”

Kuelling noted that as a result of that recommendation, two things were done almost immediately.

“We established a curriculum-review committee that examines our existing curriculum and makes recommendations for changing and developing it,” he said. “It makes things a bit more complicated up front, but it recognizes the fact that our experts on curriculum are our faculty.

“Also, we’ve given our faculty extra time to work together during the school week and we formalized that process by having ‘late start Thursdays,’” he said. “Some of our teachers come in even earlier than they have to, but they now have at least a full hour of collaboration one day each week due to the LSTs. It’s been wonderful and it’s given them an opportunity to talk about teaching, to talk about students and to talk about how we can grow as a community. I’d like to commend the faculty for all their work on this.”

EARLY SCHOOL WAIT LISTAnother area of the Academy that Kuelling

discussed during his address was the success of the Early School.

“I can say without equivocation that our Early School Montessori program is the top early school program in the area,” he said. “This is especially evident to us as we are now filled to the brim with students in Early School. We were full when school opened in the fall and we could not accept another student in the program through the year thus far.”

He also said it appears that for next year, the Early School will again have a wait list.

“This surely points to the fact that in the community, there is a real understanding that this is ‘the’ place to bring a child between the ages of 2-1/2 and kindergarten,” he said.

TWO GPA ALUMS NAMED ‘BEST FRENCH STUDENTS’Two former students of The

Grosse Pointe Academy were honored June 6 by the Alliance Française of Grosse Pointe as the best French students in their grade in high school.

Grace Drettmann, who is a senior at University Liggett, and Katie Fruehauf, a junior also at ULS, were nominated by their French teacher, Kristen Karolak, and received Alliance Française accolades on June 6 at the association’s annual award ceremony.

Amal El-Hosni, who teaches French and social studies at the Academy, was the chairperson of the event, which has been held each year for at least thirty years at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. The ceremony honored students from five different high schools in the area.

“Both Katie and Grace were French students at GPA,” El-Hosni said. “I remember when Katie was in 8th grade at GPA, she had a perfect score on the French National Exam and won first prize. They both were wonderful students!”

FIFTH-GRADE SISTERS EARN TOP HONORS IN GROSSE POINTE NEWS AD CONTEST

Academy fifth-graders Gia and Angelina Randazzo have won two of the top three prizes in the annual Grosse Pointe News “Kids’ Ads” design contest.

Gia Randazzo took first prize in the contest and her sister, Angelina, earned the third-place prize in the contest that includes many Grosse Pointe-area students in creating ads for area companies and advertisers.

A total of eight fifth graders from the Academy participated in the contest,

which had more than 500 local students designing ads for more than 50 local businesses.

“For each of our area businesses who participated in this annual contest the students created an ad that was published in a special section (URL) of the Grosse Pointe News,” said a statement from the Grosse Pointe News. “All ads were judged for each business and the winning ad for each business is published in the special section along with an acknowledgment of each student’s name and school.”

From left, former Academy student Grace Drettmann, GPA teacher Amal El-Hosni, former GPA student Katie Fruehauf and University Liggett teacher Kristen Karolak are at the June 6 Alliance Française awards ceremony, which was held at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.

Gia and Angelina Randazzo, kneeling in front, earned first- and third-place prizes, respectively, in the Grosse Pointe News “Kids’ Ads” contest. Other GPA student participants in the contest are in the back, from left, Alexander Kuplicki, Kalea Martin, Allie Larpenteur, Zoe Bamford, Saniyah Smith and Robbie Peabody.


By any measurement, Grosse Pointe Academy alum Victoria Reed’s musical career has hit full stride. She’s in the middle of an extensive tour that has taken her from Barcelona, Spain, to Brooklyn, New York, which, by the way, is her current hometown. On April 27, her tour brought her to the Majestic Cafe in Detroit.

And Reed’s critically acclaimed debut album, “Chariot,” came out February 26.

But it’s not like all of this came about by happenstance.

As she was growing up in Grosse Pointe and attending The Grosse Pointe Academy for grade school, performing was never far from Reed’s mind. After all, her father is Alto Reed, the longtime saxophonist for Detroit legend Bob Seger, and she spent her childhood backstage at Detroit’s biggest venues and sometimes in the front row at Tigers and Red Wings games as her dad wailed out the Star-Spangled Banner on his sax.

“I don’t think there was one moment of my life when I wasn’t thinking, ‘of course I’m going to be a singer someday,’” Reed said.

She also said her music memories go back as far as GPA’s lower school.

“I can remember wishing and praying every night to get the one solo in our first-grade play, ‘The Littlest Bell,’” she recalled. “And I ultimately got the part! That was a very memorable moment for me!”

Reed, 26, even started writing songs while in grade school, drawing inspiration from her parents’ Carole King and Gordon Lightfoot records, and when she was 14, she jetted off to Miami

to record a few demos with a successful producer. “I was going to be a young teen

pop star,” she said, but now she’s grateful that didn’t happen.

“I was recording my songs over the tracks that Lindsey Lohan or Mandy Moore had

ALUMPROFILE

Solo in first-grade play part of a life of music

Academy alum is touring and making records. She says her time at GPA prepared her well for high school, college—and life. (Photo by Shervin Lainez)


passed on. It just wasn’t right.”Songwriting then took a backseat when Reed

moved to Chicago for college and began studying philosophy at DePaul University. While in Chicago, Reed worked a number of jobs, did an independent study in metaphysics, and assisted her then-boyfriend’s psychic mother “teach classes on developing your intuition.”

But she said she missed making music and, after a failed attempt at mastering the music-making computer software, Ableton Live, she finally picked up the guitar her dad had given her years ago and taught herself a few chords. Within a month she was out playing open-mic nights and recording bedroom demos, which she posted online.

The next thing she knew, Reed—who had never before played with a band—was in a studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, recording “Chariot” with a group of high-caliber session musicians who had put in time with Norah Jones and Ryan Adams. “It was magical,” she said. “We didn’t talk about what kind of sound we were going for—it just happened.”

A few months later Reed packed up her Wicker Park apartment in Chicago and moved to New York for good. She recorded “Chariot” slowly over the course of two years, but for her the pace was ideal.

“This was all so new to me in the beginning, and as we went along I learned to express what I wanted in a room full of people who had been doing this for years.”

Fast-forward to 2016, she’s now on tour and being favorably compared in some circles to ’90s singers Jewel and Alanis Morissette. And Reed’s new album continues to earn critical praise with reviews calling it “melodically gorgeous, with dreamy folk vocals.”

Photo by Ester Segretto

“I always felt very well-prepared and rarely was I in over my head in high school, ” she said. “I definitely think

that trickled on down the line to college as well.”She gives props to the many along the way to

her current spot in the musical world, including and especially her father, Alto Reed.

But she also reserves a special dose of gratitude for the time she spent at The Grosse Pointe Academy and how it prepared her for the next levels of schooling and life.

“I always felt very well-prepared and rarely was I in over my head in high school,” she said. “I definitely think that trickled on down the line to college as well.”

She said GPA had the most wonderful teachers. “I honestly loved them all! The music

instructor, Mrs. Chrisner, my pre-school teacher, Mrs. Beth [Plotzke], my second grade teacher, Mrs. [Renee] Martin, my fourth and fifth grade teacher, Mrs. [Barbara] Markus, just to name a few,” she said. “Everyone was always so nurturing and kind. I also made so many wonderful lifelong friends at that school. To this day, I live just a few blocks away in New York City from some of my best friends that I met in preschool at GPA. And we’re as close now as we were then. That’s pretty cool, right?”


During The Grosse Pointe Academy’s most recent open house, STEAM and art fair, a certain teacher was trying to keep a watchful eye or two on a college basketball game that was streaming on her computer all the while she was engaging Academy visitors.

It wasn’t just any college basketball game. It was a Patriot League tournament contest between GPA fourth-grade teacher Didi DeBoer’s daughter’s team, Bucknell, and Lafayette. Claire DeBoer, a junior on the Bison squad, is the team’s second-leading scorer.

“I can’t help it,” Didi DeBoer said. “I am so competitive. I just want my daughter’s team to win!”

Bucknell did win the game, 68-59, and eventually landed in the league’s semifinal game on March 11 that saw Claire DeBoer finish with a team-high 15 points in a loss to Loyola Maryland.

HIGH STANDARDSDeBoer’s own competitiveness and will to do

well seem to come naturally to her whether it’s on the court or in the classroom.

“She sets very high standards for herself and for those she teaches,” said Academy third-grade teacher Beth Ahee, who has known DeBoer and her family for more than 20 years. “Whatever she does, she does well — just look at the garden and the Innovation Station she began. You don’t meet many teachers as dedicated as Didi.”

Along with her classroom duties, DeBoer also coaches the Academy’s girls basketball team. She said she loves sports and can usually be found playing one or watching another.

“I’m a huge fan of basketball and [obviously] love watching my daughter play,” she said. “I’m also a big college football fan. My husband, John, and son, David, both played football and David now coaches at the college level. I play a ton of golf in the summer and enjoy tennis very much as well.”

But it’s in the classroom that DeBoer gets the most satisfaction.

“By far, the most important part of my job is the students,” she said. “They make me laugh and inspire me each day. My mission is to reach each child individually where they are in the learning process and hopefully inspire them each day as well. And, of course. make them laugh along the way. I want my students to LOVE 4th grade; it’s a really big deal to me!”

TEACHING WASN’T FIRST JOBThe desire to become a teacher while growing

up also was a big deal to DeBoer, she said, but her path to a career in education took a short detour when she began college.

“I always wanted to be a teacher, but when I attended college for the first time, the teaching

DeBoer says GPA students are “such happy children and really love school. They definitely are the reason I love teaching.”

FACULTYPROFILE

High standards, amazing students


High standards, amazing students

market wasn’t going so well, so I went into business instead,” she said. “My first degree was a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Central Michigan University. But after working in business for a few years, I realized all over again that my first love was teaching, so while I was home raising my children, I went back to college to become a teacher.”

DeBoer’s teaching degree is from Saginaw Valley State University where she majored in math and science. She later returned to SVSU for her master’s in elementary education.

But GPA was not her first teaching job, however. DeBoer taught in Warren and Mt. Clemens, and was an occasional sub in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools, but her desire to land a full-time job in her hometown eventually came to fruition six years ago when she hired in at The Grosse Pointe Academy.

“Coming here was so very joyful for me,” she said. “My first impression of GPA was that the students were amazing! They are such happy children and really love school. They definitely are the reason I love teaching.”

DeBoer says that even after six years at the school, the students at GPA still amaze her. And so does the school.

DeBoer and Megan Black, who is technology and learning specialist at the Academy, are co-coordinators for the school’s STEAM activity.

DeBoer is with husband, John, in San Francisco, Calif.

“The Academy has really changed in the past six years,” she said. “We have become a school that is on the forefront, technological speaking, which is amazing. Also, our focus on STEAM education is a tremendously positive change that I enjoy being part of. Our garden classroom has been such a welcome addition as well. It has really opened up our learning opportunities and is one more reason out of many that GPA is unique and special.”

When asked what she might be if she wasn’t a teacher, DeBoer hesitates.

“I love being a teacher so thinking of myself in any other job is difficult,” she said. “When I retire from teaching, I look forward to going on mission trips and helping others. So, I guess I could say that being a volunteer and helping others is what I would choose if I wasn’t a teacher.”


ALUMPROFILE

The Grosse Pointe Academy’s approach to nurturing the “whole child” — which emphasizes character development through leadership and community service opportunities — bears witness nearly every day with students in the current school population. We also see on a regular basis that many of the Academy’s alumni are giving back to their communities in significant and amazing ways.

Case in point: Jay Bonnell, who graduated from the Academy in 1982, is the controller at Beaumont Hospital’s Wayne, Michigan, location. As the point person on all things financial at the hospital, Bonnell works behind the scenes to make sure budgets are in place to fulfill the needs of the staff and physicians so they can provide the best in care to the community.

He’s also been a generous, but “quiet,” donor to many of the philanthropic activities within the hospital itself as well as in the surrounding communities.

So when it came time for Bonnell to be recognized for his own benevolent efforts, it was no surprise to those who know him that he opted instead to defer that recognition to others.

As an Oakwood Foundation President’s and Legacy Society Member, Bonnell took the naming opportunity he earned by his generosity and instead honored the entire exceptional workforce at Beaumont–Wayne. The result was the Hero Hall, named in honor of site president Eric. W. Widner

and dedicated to showcasing the staff and physicians who provide exceptional care to patients.

A ‘MOST HUMBLE’ MANNER“Jay has made a tremendous impact on the

programs and services we provide at Beaumont Hospital – Wayne,” said Michelle Anderson, interim executive director of the Oakwood Foundation. “And he has made this impact in the most humble and unassuming manner.”

His gifts have helped provide equipment for the Beaumont Breast Care Center – Wayne, supported the Summer Speech Therapy Program, which as underwritten by Bonnell, provided more than 45 children with speech therapists who worked with them to help overcome communication barriers.

He also offered a challenge grant that matched the Beaumont Spirit of Giving Campaign contributions made by management at the hospital, and he has also made arrangements through his estate plan to make a significant gift to support patient care.

A controller for the Beaumont–Wayne facility since 2013, Bonnell began his Beaumont career as manager of surgical services at Beaumont’s Grosse Pointe location in 2010. Prior to this, he served in a number of financial analyst positions with Ryder Integrated Logistics and General Motors. He earned BA and MBA degrees from Michigan State University.

IMPACTFUL EMPLOYEE“Jay has taken significant personal action by

making charitable investments in areas that impact patient care, and, challenging our staff and leadership to do the same,” said Dr. Neelam Kumar, Oakwood Foundation chair and physician supervisor of pathology at Beaumont–Wayne. “The wonderful thing about Jay is that he sees the personal side of things. He speaks directly to our physicians, our patients, their family members and staff each day. Because of that, I think that Jay has a unique perspective into the impact of charity and philanthropy.”

The hero hall, which is prominently located in the hallway behind the hospital’s main lobby, includes many photos of hospital employees who have gone above and beyond to impact the lives of patients.

“I see that impact each day I come to work,” Bonnell said.

Widner said even though Jay chose to honor him with the naming of the hero hall, it really is Jay’s spirit that is reverberating through the hallway.

“Jay’s enthusiasm and his passion for this hospital, for our coworkers, the physicians and for our patients, radiates from him,” Widner said.

Leadership, caring and community service

Grosse Pointe Academy alum Jay Bonnell (Class of 1982), right, is with Beaumont Hospital—Wayne President Eric. W. Widner in the hospital’s “hero hall.”


Is there a future in journalism for Maria Fields, a recent graduate of The Grosse Pointe Academy? Or perhaps one day might she serve on the U.S. Supreme Court? Actually, both jobs may be on the horizon for this talented and ambitious student, who is finishing up what is inarguably one of the most successful Academy careers in some time.

Early this year, Fields published the inaugural edition of “The Grosse Pointe Academy Times,” which she and two of her classmates, Nafi Sall and Molly Woods, established on their own initiative. Woods is the creative editor and reporter for the newspaper and Sall creates the comics and is a reporter, according to Fields, who serves as the publisher and editor.

“Through discussions at my lunch table with Molly and Nafi, we saw the need and decided to establish a student newspaper,” Fields said. “I intend to publish it once a month.”

She said the newspaper will have a different theme each month.

“Generally, we will have a reporter interview other students about the topic or theme,” she said. “And every newsletter will include a main article, a student-written column, student book reviews, and a ‘random-act-of-kindness’ article written and submitted by a student.”

According to Assistant Head of School for Instruction and Grades 1-8 Principal Lawrence DeLuca, Fields approached him about starting a student newspaper.

“She put the paper together completely on her own with the help of Nafi and Molly,” DeLuca said. “We originally discussed distributing it only for middle school, but after seeing their first copy, I thought it would be something all the grades could enjoy. They showed great initiative and the work they did on the newspaper was impressive.”

Impressive may also be a good word to describe Fields herself and what she’s accomplished during the years she’s been at GPA.

This past December, Fields earned three first-place awards and a first overall in the Eastside Catholic Forensics League competition held at St. Joan of Arc school in St. Clair Shores. Last May, Fields won a gold medal as she scored a #4 national ranking and a #2 local Detroit-area chapter ranking in Le Grand Concours, a highly competitive French exam sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Also in May, she was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society along with 16 of her classmates.

Last spring, Fields brought home the top prize in a speech and essay contest sponsored by the Clinton Township Area Optimist Club. Her winning essay explained how she started the G.R.O.W. program at the Academy in order to provide extra help to the school’s first and second graders with their reading, schoolwork and homework. G.R.O.W. stands for Generating Real Opportunities for Wonder and the program is managed primarily by Fields who even provides the snacks during tutoring sessions.

In September, Fields was one of the Academy students chosen to give a speech at the school’s opening ceremony, which welcomed students in Grades 1 through 8 to a new school year. And, in late 2014, Fields helped host the C.A.T.C.H. Night of Champions, an annual charity event attended each year by more than 400 people.

On top of all this, Fields is finishing up her term as National American Miss Michigan Pre-Teen, a title she earned last summer. According to National American Miss, which sponsors the Miss Michigan Pre-Teen pageant, thousands in scholarships and prizes are given out to recognize and assist the development of young women nationwide, with emphasis placed on the importance of gaining self-confidence, learning new skills, learning good attitudes about competition, and setting and achieving personal goals.

So what is next for Fields as she contemplates high school and beyond and continues to set her own goals?

A career in journalism is in the mix, according to Fields, who said she’d love to work on a student newspaper in high school. But her career goals also include something a bit more lofty.

“I would like to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice,” she said. “Nevertheless, that does not mean I cannot be a journalist along the way.”

Based on what Fields has accomplished in her still very young life, there are no doubts that she will be successful in whatever she pursues, including serving on the highest court in the land.

Editor extraordinaire

Maria Fields graduated with the Class of 2016.


1990 ACADEMY GRAD AND MUSICIAN TOURS WORLD, SAYS FIRST GIG WAS AT GPA

R.J. Ronquillo graduated from The Grosse Pointe Academy in 1990. Since then this guitar phenom has been all over the world supporting musical stars like Stevie Wonder, Ricky Martin and Thompson Square. He’s also much in demand in the studio and just recently collaborated with a major musical instrument manufacturer on his own signature guitar.

But despite earning huge accolades from the music literati and playing guitar with Santana, Tupac Shakur and DMX, Ronquillo said he’ll always carry a special fondness for the time he played at the Halloween dance as a middle schooler at the Academy.

“My very first gig ever was in the 7th grade,” he said. “One of my classmates, Mr. DeLuca [current GPA assistant head of school for instruction and grades 1-8 principal] and I had a band called The Plague with Mike Gandelot and Paul Cure, both

from GPA’s Class of ‘89. We played the Halloween dance in the old auditorium upstairs and I was so nervous that I played the entire first song, ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses, behind the curtain!” any information to contradict that.”

But despite his first-timer nerves, Ronquillo said without a doubt, all of the teachers at GPA were very encouraging and supportive of his passion for music.

“Mrs. Chrisner, our music teacher, always found ways to utilize every student’s talent in all of the various programs and plays.”

Ronquillo remembers playing guitar quite a lot at school functions. Things like talent shows, Christmas luncheons, dances, 8th grade plays, to name only a few.

“Another great memory for me involved one of my English teachers at GPA, who played drums in a local rock band and was actually playing at one of the school dances,” Ronquillo said. “He invited me up to play ‘La Bamba,’ which I had just learned. I think the movie had just come out. Ironically, I recently met David Hidalgo from Los Lobos at a festival we were both playing, and I told him that story.”

Grosse Pointe to Nashville by way of Miami and L.A.

Ronquillo grew up in Grosse Pointe. He attended Grosse Pointe South and then earned a bachelor’s degree in studio music and jazz performance from the University of Miami after his graduation from GPA, where he started as a preschooler.

In-demand musician got his start at the Academy

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He said that even though he originally learned to play piano as a 6-year-old, he found the guitar more to his liking and as he got older, his guitar playing began to earn him high praise to the point that currently he gets calls not only from the major acts touring the world, but even from some of the companies that actually make guitars and other musical instruments.

In fact, he’s been working since 2011 with Ontario, Canada-based Eastwood Guitars on testing and making demo videos for their instruments, which have been played by the likes of Calexico, John Fogerty and the Foo Fighters. Recently the company released a new “R.J. Ronquillo” signature model guitar.

“One of my favorite Eastwood models is the Airline Tuxedo because of its open ‘woody’ sound, which makes it great for my particular style of blues and jazz,” he said. “When Eastwood came to me about doing a signature model, I knew immediately that I wanted it to be based on that original Tuxedo. But what makes my signature model unique is that it’s a double-cutaway body, has 22 frets and a special custom tone switch.”

ONE MAN BANDGoing back a few more years, Ronquillo said he

also spent time in Los Angeles, where he not only did session work, he played a number of dates alone as a one-man band. A news report about him during that time said Ronquillo, “unlike many other modern one-man bands, doesn’t rely at all on the novelty of the concept, foregoing all the bells and whistles and noise-making contraptions, and going strictly on his strength as a talented musician and singer/songwriter. It’s quality, not quantity, and his studio full-length album, ‘One Man Blues Band,’ is proof enough of that, with such standout originals as ‘Simmer Down,’ ‘Wanderin’ Eye,’ and ‘If You Love Me.’”

But it’s his collaborative work on stage that makes Ronquillo stand out even more.

A few years, Ronquillo was hired by Ricky Martin for a tour that lasted eight months and covered the U.S., Mexico, Central America, South America, Spain

Photo credits: Jencita Vargasand Italy. “We played arenas and stadiums that included

Madison Square Garden, Staples Center and River Plate in Buenos Aires. It was an amazing experience.”

He recalled another memorable gig that saw him back up both Stevie Wonder and Brian McKnight at the same time.

“We were on a TV show and played two songs, ‘Do I Do’ and ‘My Cherie Amour.’ As a fan of both singers, it was such a treat to hear them together.”

Now based in Nashville, Tenn., Ronquillo has been extremely busy of late. He’s currently on a lengthy U.S. tour with country duo Thompson Square, who just got nominated as CMA Vocal Duo of The Year for the fourth year in a row.

“I’m also continuing to film gear-demo videos for various guitar, amp and effects companies,” he said. “And I recently released a record—yes, a vinyl record(!)—with my band ‘RJ & The Del Guapos.’ The record was featured recently in Vintage Guitar Magazine.”

Surely a busy and obviously successful guy, and one who appears to have a very promising future ahead of him. But even though he’s already rubbed elbows with many of the world’s most famous entertainers and musical stars, Ronquillo still cannot forget his formative years at The Grosse Pointe Academy.

“I have so many good memories from GPA. I loved running around on all of the numerous playgrounds, and ice skating in the winter when the soccer field was converted into an ice rink. And of course, the summer camping trips with Mr. Fultz!”


It’s likely no one yet has pondered how to combine the Fauvist vision of Henri Matisse, the psychedelia of Peter Max and the ambiguous Gothic realism of Sandro Botticelli into one piece of art.

Well, wait a minute. . . maybe we did find that one person. And she’s not only creating such art suitable for some of the world’s premier galleries, she’s turning it into something you can wear.

Paige Russell, a 2004 graduate of The Grosse Pointe Academy, is making waves in both the art and fashion worlds with her collection of vibrant-colored scarves inspired by, she says, “strange dichotomies of pop-art patterns influenced by day-to-day life.”

Calling what she does “transcending the two-dimensional,” Russell’s scarf-making process begins with large, hand-cut pieces of brightly colored paper that she uses to create roughly two-ft.-by-two-ft. 2D fantasies of shape and color that are both beautiful and compelling. But, it’s what she does with many of those 2D fantasies that is drawing so much interest from the fashion world.

After a painstaking and labor-intensive process of digitizing her paper “paintings,” Russell turns the art into luxurious printed silk scarves, the likes of which have been garnering favorable comparisons with those sold by the famous Paris-based Hermès House of Scarves.

But what got her to what she calls her “deranged technicolor ramblings on silk” is a study in hard work, perseverance and, yes, an excellent academic beginning at The Grosse Pointe Academy.

GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN“I feel grateful that at the Academy we were all

pushed to do a bit of everything — academics, sports, chorus, art, drama, etc.,” Russell said. “I didn’t fully realize it at the time, but now as an adult, I still meet people and notice how integral

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Transcending two dimensions

Paige Russell, a 2004 alumna of The Grosse Pointe Academy, graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design and now operates a studio and business in Austin, Texas.


those small things are that contribute to making a person so well-rounded.”

She said she often thinks about former Academy teachers Mr. [Mike] Fultz and Mr. [Bob] Lapadot. “Both were great teachers and a bit eccentric, which made going against the grain seem like a really smart thing to do,” she added.

Russell attended GPA from Early School through eighth grade — “Did the long haul,” she said — after which high school followed at Grosse Pointe South. The transition to high school went well for her as it included a heavy dose of art and design from the start.

“I really didn’t do many extracurriculars at South, but I was in the art building any chance I got,” she said. “Art has always been on my agenda. I don’t recall ever wanting to do anything else.”

After high school, Russell matriculated to the Savannah College of Art and Design, a well-respected art college in Savannah, Georgia. She majored in graphic design because she figured it was the most “marketable” major in terms of making a living.

“I also thought graphic design was open enough that if I were to change my mind, it would still apply to most anything else I wanted to do in the art world,” she said.

And what she is actually doing in the art world now is certainly gathering media attention. Russell already has been featured in U.K.’s The Sunday Times, Huffington Post, Style Bubble, Cool Hunting, the Bulletin and in Austin Monthly, which is published in Austin, Texas, Russell’s new adopted hometown.

“I was on my way to San Francisco to make my life there, and by a twist of fate I got the flu in Austin and ended up staying,” she said. “I’m so glad I did.”

MATISSE AND ‘HAPPY ACCIDENTS’Operating out of a small studio just east of the

University of Texas at Austin in a business called “ELOI,” Russell says colors, sometimes many colors, are always on her mind.

“Color is such a huge part of what I do,” she said. “I usually have an idea brewing as I come up with a palette that really gets me excited. Once I begin, and after any planning I’ve done ahead of time is thrown out, it sometimes can become a mess. But then everything changes, I play some more, and lots of happy accidents occur.”

Originally, the idea of printing her work onto scarves, she said, seemed like a good way of reproducing her original paper cutout pieces. She loved the idea of putting her art on an object so simple, and on one that can be used all the time in a lot of different ways.

And about a major art inspiration: “I have always loved Matisse, but at first I didn’t realize he did paper cutouts until I’d been doing this for a couple of years,” she said. “But it’s not just his cutouts. It’s his regular paintings also that are a huge influence for me!”

More art and scarves from Paige Russell are at ELOI.us.


Claudia Leslie, who has been the Academy’s Early School - grade 5 French instructor for more than 10 years, said that when it came time for her own daughters to begin their early education, she and her husband, Stephen Leslie, quickly found out there was only one way to go. Claudia then was teaching French and German in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools system.

“When it was time to enroll our oldest daughter in a preschool, we started exploring the preschools in Grosse Pointe,” Leslie said. “But it became quickly evident to us that The Grosse Pointe Academy would provide our young daughters with the best education in Grosse Pointe, so we enrolled them in the Montessori program at the Academy.”

After eleven years at GPA, those daughters, Léonie (18) and Sophie (15), are now well on their way to successful paths in furthering their education careers, said mom.

While her children’s educational journey so far has been confined pretty much to the Grosse Pointe area, Claudia Leslie’s own education career spans two continents. Born and raised with her five siblings in the canton of Bern, Switzerland, Leslie grew up with a real appreciation of the importance of education. Fluency in more than

one language also was a very normal thing for her and her childhood peers.

“When you grow up in Switzerland, it’s normal to speak multiple languages on a daily basis,” she said. “Switzerland actually has four official languages, German, French, Italian and Romansh, and in Bern, the predominant languages are German and French.”

CAREER IN EDUCATION FORGONE CONCLUSION

She said that Switzerland is renowned worldwide for its school system and at an early age, she became focused on a career in education — at a very early age.

“I actually knew I wanted to become a teacher since kindergarten,” she said, “and I followed that dream by ultimately receiving my teaching certification from the Teachers Training College of Bern.”

After college, Leslie taught for three years in Switzerland during which time — on a two-month visit to Michigan to further improve her English-language skills — she met Stephen, eventually married, and permanently moved across the Atlantic to Grosse Pointe to make a new home where her husband grew up.

In 2004, after a number of years teaching in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools, Leslie left GPPS to become the Early School-through-grade 5 French instructor at The Grosse Pointe

The Academy by way of Switzerland

FACULTYPROFILE


Academy. She said she appreciates the family atmosphere at the Academy and truly loves her job, especially since she can continue teaching a subject near and dear to her heart.

“Because I grew up in a bilingual environment, I believe that’s why world languages have always been a passion of mine,” Leslie said. “Knowing multiple languages can be very empowering when you travel and you actually can communicate well with people from other countries. In fact, every summer, my parents would take my siblings and me to different countries in Europe where we learned to appreciate other languages and cultures. I also think that’s why I enjoy traveling so much with the GPA students when they go to Europe.”

Leslie, Amal El-Hosni, who teaches middle school French at the Academy, and Head of School Lars Kuelling recently returned from what is becoming an annual event: a week-long trip with middle-school students to Spain and France. “For me it’s like going home again and showing the kids what I’ve experienced when I was their age,” Leslie said. “I love to explore the world!”

SMALL CLASS SIZE KEYShe said that exploring the world through

language also is an important part of how she approaches teaching at GPA and adds that class size is so critical in that approach.

“The small class sizes at the Academy allow me to nurture the potential of each child, which allows the students to more quickly discover their unique strengths and passions,” she said. “I make sure that each student gets plenty of opportunities to speak French during the class. I truly believe that giving a child the opportunity to learn French at an early age is a great advantage because they acquire it in a natural manner. In addition, I think it’s an effort that provides them with a deeper understanding of one’s own language

and a broader global awareness.”Leslie’s own efforts with the children certainly

do not go unnoticed at the Academy, said Jennifer Kendall, assistant head of school for Early School education and admissions.

“It is a tremendous benefit at GPA to offer French starting at age 2-1/2 in the Montessori Early School and Madame Leslie is such a gift to the children,” Kendall said. “So often I hear them speaking French just like ‘Madame Leslie.’ They all want to sound like her and we often see and hear the benefits of that early learning experience as they continue with French through grade 5 and for those who take French through grade 8.”

There’s no doubt that Leslie’s students have benefited from all the time she has spent on the Academy campus for all these years. But whenever she’s away from campus, Leslie said she still keeps herself very busy.

“When I’m not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends as well as skiing, running, biking, sailing and hiking among many other activities that occupy my time,” she said. “Also, I’m the youngest of six children, and my siblings and father all still live in Switzerland. So my family and I always look forward to visiting them each summer.”

French teacher Claudia Leslie says small class sizes at the Academy is advantageous in the language learning process, especially for children in the lower grades.


ALUMPROFILE

In today’s strongly bifurcated political environment, it is maybe rare to find a politico who is running for a seat in the federal government who says he longs for the “golden era,” when those on both the blue and red sides got along well enough to actually accomplish something; a politico who also thinks good manners and respect—lost arts perhaps—would go a long way in getting things done today.

James Cargas, a 1980 graduate of The Grosse Pointe Academy, currently is chasing the 7th Congressional District seat in Texas. He is running against the district incumbent who Cargas says is falling short in delivering what its citizens need.

“The 7th Congressional District now is an excellent example of an entrenched member of Congress who has lost touch with the district,” Cargas said. “He has a pattern of voting for purely political reasons and against his constituents’ best interest.”

And keeping constituents’ best interests at the forefront is why Cargas is running this year, he says.

He also says that even as far back as his lower school days at the Academy, some of the lessons learned then still help inform his modus operandi when it comes to compromise and cooperation in the real world of government and politics.

“Having first, second and third grades in one area of the school was a wonderful experience in community and collaboration among students with different needs and abilities,” he said of those days at the Academy. “And so when elected, I plan to work very hard to duplicate some of that atmosphere of

community and collaboration in Congress.”

JOURNEY TO WASHINGTON GOES THROUGH TEXAS

Cargas’s long and impressive educational career thus far has taken him from the Grosse Pointe Farms campus of GPA, through University Liggett high school in Grosse Pointe Woods, to Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan and finally to Washington, D.C., at American University’s Washington College of Law, where he earned his law degree.

During that time, Cargas has had more than a taste of how government works—

from the local level up to halls of Congress in Washington.

While in law school in D.C., Cargas focused on energy and environmental law, served as president of the Environmental Law Society, and wrote a monthly column called “Law of the Jungle” in the student magazine. A job with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission led to positions with a major D.C. law firm, an interstate natural gas pipeline company, and ultimately the Clinton White House on the President’s Council on Sustainable Development.

“I finished out the Clinton administration at the U.S. Department of Energy under Secretary Bill Richardson,” Cargas said. “In 2001, when President George W. Bush was elected, I found a great job as an energy and environmental lawyer in the energy capital of the world, Houston, Texas.

Then, in 2008, Bill White, who was Houston’s mayor at the time, hired Cargas as the city’s energy counsel responsible for advising the mayor on all aspects of energy procurement and energy transactional matters. Under Mayor Annise Parker, White’s successor, Cargas was city attorney and also advised the City of Houston on contract, environmental, real estate and regulatory matters.

BOY SCOUTS AND PINE TREESThis compulsion to serve his fellow citizens,

according to Cargas, started when he was in the Boy Scouts, which is where he first got a taste of politics volunteering with now-retired Congressman David E. Bonior, who represented Michigan’s 10th and 12th Congressional districts.

“As a scout, I often volunteered for Bonior’s campaign by passing out pine trees door-to-door, which is what David and his volunteers often did during his campaigning,” Cargas said. “Then, while at U-M, Rep. Bonior offered me a summer internship on Capitol Hill. In order to earn college credit, I enrolled in American University’s summer program and lived in their dorms. It was a great experience during that summer, seeing how legislation was crafted, hearings were held, and votes were taken. Rep. Bonior was part of the Congressional leadership at the time and I had the opportunity to meet Speaker Tip O’Neill, Sen. Claude Pepper, and many other national leaders.”

James Cargas, who graduated from The Grosse Pointe Academy in 1980, is

running to be representative of the 7th Congressional

District in Texas.

Academics, respect and manners


Academics, respect and manners After Cargas graduated from Michigan, Bonior needed a deputy press secretary and offered Cargas the position, which he accepted and held during part of his time in law school. After finishing law school, Cargas jumped back full-time onto Bonior’s staff where he said he had some of his most fulfilling legislative experiences.

“When I returned to Rep. Bonior’s staff after law school, Jim Wright of Texas was the house speaker,” Cargas said. “We worked with certain Republicans on some bills and they opposed us on others. It was never personal; just each member doing what was best for their individual districts. It was how Congress had operated for over 210 years. Looking back, it seemed like a golden era of cooperation and democracy.”

Bonior, for his part, remembers Cargas well. “Very early on, way before he came to

Washington, I worked with James and his family in my district in Michigan as a liaison to the Greek community,” Bonior said. “His family was very well respected. James was a thoughtful, persistent, fine young man, including the time he was part of my communications group. If elected, I believe he will do a fine job for his constituents.”

WHY TEXAS?Cargas said he is well-entrenched in Houston,

loves living and working there, and is most especially grateful for the city because that’s where he met his wife, Dr. Dorina Papageorgiou, a neuroscientist who works at Baylor College of Medicine’s Department of Neuroscience.

He also said his devotion to and interest in energy and environmental issues make Houston, which has more than 70 wind and solar energy companies, the perfect place for him. In addition, despite Texas currently being a very “red” state in terms of politics, it has a strong history of Democratic leadership.

“Texas gave America many powerful national Democratic leaders,” he said. “People like President Lyndon Johnson, House speakers Sam Rayburn and Jim Wright, Governor Anne Richards, Senator and Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, Sen. Ralph Yarborough, and Representatives Mickey Leeland, Martin Frost, and Barbara Jordan, to name a few.”

He said that Texas was a deep blue state before it was a deep red state, and urban areas such as Houston remain Democratic-leaning communities with Democratic mayors.

Cargas said that when he gets to Congress — it’s not “if,” it’s “when” — he’ll have a lot on his

plate. For his district, he wants to bring light rail westward, return funding for biomedical research to formerly high levels, and implement comprehensive energy reform.

For his country, he said he wants to work across the aisle to balance the federal budget. “As an alum of the Clinton administration – the last administration to balance the budget -- I know this is difficult, but the benefits will be well worth the effort,” Cargas said.

He also includes targeted tax cuts for small businesses, innovative unemployment insurance reform, making the payroll tax cut permanent, and preventing the layoff of teachers, police, firefighters and other essential public servants important components of his Congressional to-do list.

RESPECTAsked about any further memories from his time

at The Grosse Pointe Academy, Cargas, whose sister, Vicky Steensma, also attended GPA, said there is something from the Academy he will always hold close.

“Some of the most lasting lessons that GPA teaches young people include manners and respect for others,” he said. “I recall losing a baseball game at the Academy in second or third grade and being rather upset. But the coach took the time to talk to me about sportsmanship, the importance of leaving the competitiveness on the field, and looking forward to a rematch tomorrow. Those are heavy concepts for a six year old to take in, but I did, and it has stayed with me today and will be with me probably forever.”

Cargas is with his wife, Dorina, in 2015 during a July 4th parade in Houston.


FACULTYPROFILE

CURRENT ACADEMY DIRECTRESS DISCOVERED THE ADVANTAGE OF MONTESSORI AND FULLY EMBRACED IT

The Grosse Pointe Academy employs one of the best teaching staffs in the State of Michigan. Highly educated and credentialed, from Early School to eighth grade, GPA staffers are ensuring that all students graduate with every advantage a budding high school “citizen” can possibly have.

Those advantages, which the school proudly and collectively tags as “The Academy Advantage,” most importantly begin in the longest continuously running Montessori program in the state. Which is where longtime “directress” Mary Jo Carrier educates GPA students—part of her family, she says—who range in age from 2-1/2 to 5.

“I always tell the children that we are like a family,” Carrier said. “We spend almost everyday of the week together and like a family, we work together, and we need to help each other and be kind to each other. I believe that in this way, the children feel the classroom is their own peaceful place where they play a meaningful role in caring for themselves, each other and their environment.”

Carrier, who has a B.A. from Marygrove College and is credentialed in A.M.S. Early Childhood, first came to the Academy “environment” in 1994 after spending a couple of years at the Giving Tree Montessori School in Detroit as a directress, and after raising a family once a short career as a medical social worker ended.

“As a medical social worker, I was responsible for the placement of patients from hospitals to nursing homes or adult foster care, which needless to say was a pretty sad job,” she said.

So after leaving the workforce, Carrier and her

husband, Mark, raised four children—three sons and a daughter—who she said are now all very active adults.

“I was happy to stay home for 13 years raising our kids, keeping active in all their sports, clubs and school activities. But as education had always been a priority in our household, I began to think of returning to the work force in part to help ensure our own children would have choices for their future.”

LOVED THE MONTESSORI ‘DIFFERENCE’As she was exploring a new career in education,

a friend of Carrier, who happened to be a primary directress at Giving Tree, asked her to come and work at Giving Tree and also to bring her daughter to begin school there. Carrier said that since her boys were a little older, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to jump back into the workforce.

“I found this was a wonderful place to start working again and it’s where I found my love for the

‘Peaceful place’

Mary Jo Carrier, below, just finished her 22 year at The Grosse Pointe Academy.


Montessori way of teaching,” Carrier said. “It was so different from the traditional approach in education. I loved how it stressed independence, order and the freedom to choose work and I began to see that young children were so much more capable of doing things for themselves if we just stepped back and allowed them to do so.”

She loved the hands-on materials in the Montessori classroom and saw how they made a real difference in each child’s learning.

“But most of all I loved to see joy on the children’s faces as they took learning into their own hands, treated each other with kindness and respected their environment because they were fully invested in its care,” she added.

Beginning her Montessori career as a primary assistant at Giving Tree, Carrier worked with 1st through 3rd graders there for about four years after which she decided to check out the possibility of working in Montessori at The Grosse Pointe Academy, which was actually already quite familiar to her. In fact, by that time, she was very heavily involved with the school, serving on various school committees, working as a classroom assistant and even teaching science and Catholic Formation.

“All the teachers at GPA were wonderful mentors and wholeheartedly supported me in getting a Montessori certificate,” she said. “So after Anne Carson retired, I was lucky enough to get her classroom.”

Replacing a 35-year veteran, she said, was no easy task, but she jumped in with great gusto, often working from seven in the morning until six at night. “The cleaning staff finally complained that I was at school way too many hours,” she said.

SCHOOL IS BEAUTIFUL, STAFF IS FRIENDLY, WELCOMING

Asked about first impressions of GPA, Carrier said that since she attended Catholic schools all her life, she had a built-in recognition and understanding of the legacy and traditions of GPA, both past and

present. “Also, I quickly gained an appreciation for the property in all its glory of the changing seasons,” she said. “The buildings, the trees, the lake—what more beautiful setting could an employee work in?!”

“I loved coming to work everyday! The staff was friendly, helpful and welcoming, the children and parents were happy and everyone was glad to be at school everyday.”

Twenty-one years have passed since Carrier first walked through the doors of GPA. And she still loves coming to work each and every day.

“Just like day one, I still believe the most important thing I can do for the children at GPA is to provide a safe, nurturing environment for every one of them,” she said. “And this caring, peaceful place makes for such an optimal learning environment, where children can engage alone or cooperatively in meaningful learning experiences that will surely help them grow socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically.”

IRELAND ROOTSNow that her children are all grown—three are

married and all have successful careers, Carrier said—she and her husband are starting to spend more of their free time chasing around the country, visiting her kids and “four beautiful grandchildren.”

“Our children’s interests and jobs have taken them to West Point, New York City, Washington, D.C., Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., and Traverse City,” she said. “And we love to travel. In fact, we are looking forward to spending several weeks in Ireland this summer, which will allow us to discover more about our Irish ancestry and lineage that is centered in the village of Puckane in County Tipperary.”


ALUMPROFILE

WELLESLEY GRAD DISCUSSES GPA’S ‘WEALTH OF ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES’ THAT LED TO HER ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND A DEVOTION TO COMMUNITY SERVICE

Academy alum Chanel Geter (‘06) finished her Master of Arts degree in Management from Wake Forest University’s Graduate School of Business last May. She said her elective focus at Wake was on human resources, but throughout the course of the program, she also studied marketing, finance, com-munication, and more. She now plans to pursue a career in human-resources management, profession-al-development consulting, and public speaking.

Anybody who knows Geter likely has no doubt that she will be successful in whatever career she pursues. She’s actually currently gainfully employed in Texas, but it was her work with an Austin-based volunteer organization that proved especially note-worthy to the Girls Empowerment Network (GEN), which highlighted Geter in a recent “Volunteer in the Community” profile during National Volunteer Month. According to GEN’s mission statement, its role in the world “is to support and guide girls to make wise choices as they navigate the unique pres-sures of girlhood.”

“I love having the feeling that accompanies know-ing that our community of volunteers is helping girls throughout the great state of Texas to challenge some of the messages that they receive on a daily ba-sis, while exploring their girlhood, and helping them flourish through self-love,” Geter said in the profile.

Geter graduated from The Grosse Pointe Acade-my in 2006, after which she matriculated to West Bloomfield High School where she finished with honors and a 4.18 grade point average that helped get her into prestigious Wellesley College in Massa-chusetts. She graduated from Wellesley in 2014 with double majors in American Studies and Sociology and joined other notable alumnae from the no. 1-ranked U.S. women’s college (2016 U.S. News & World Report), including Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, filmmak-er Nora Ephron and journalists Cokie Roberts and Diane Sawyer.

Among many extracurricular activities at Welles-ley, Geter said she spent her summers as an under-graduate interning with the Emma L. Bowen Foun-dation for Minority Interest in Business and Media.

After such an illustrious university career, howev-er, Geter, who now lives in Texas full time, remains especially grateful for the time she spent at the Academy. “I was blessed to attend GPA thanks to sig-nificant scholarship assistance,” she said. “Someone’s generosity has made all of the difference in my life.”

She said that without a doubt The Grosse Pointe Academy was instrumental in sending her out into

Committed to the community


Committed to the community the world not only with a solid academic foundation, but with a sincere care and empathy for those less fortunate in the community and in the country.

In a recent interview with the Academy, Geter commented on her GPA experience, her current state of affairs and on what appears to be a very bright future.

Chanel Geter on specific GPA memories and teachers:

I remember having really valuable learning moments in social studies class from Mrs. Johnson, sensing that our textbooks were not telling the whole stories of marginalized people. Thus, my first vestiges of student activism started in that classroom as I learned to ask questions and spark discussions. I also remember the bonding that happened in our class as a result of having such a small population of girls (eight out of 25 classmates), so I can still see in my mind’s eye Sasha (Ovshinsky) Murphy mento-ring us through conflict management. I remember Mr. Zink, our art teacher, who somehow taught us about life while also teaching us to paint. I can pic-ture our Christian Life classroom and Mrs. Krease, who made us blow our noses out in the hallway. And then there was Mr. Fultz, who told me that he would flunk me if I didn’t dissect my frog in his biology class. I will also never forget Mrs. Chrisner working with me on my solo for the 8th-grade play and then me missing the note by a mile on stage. An image of Mrs. Roberts at the front of the class-room lecturing us on the power of perception still sticks in my mind. It was also Mr. Cowan who first introduced me to Saturday Night Live, of which I am obviously now a huge fan. There are honestly so many moments of very high and very challenging points that I can remember from that time.

On middle school at the Academy:Middle school is a pivotal learning time for

everyone, but I know that for me, a young black girl coming from an urban environment and a dynamic family background, it has taken me years to truly appreciate the wealth of academic and social learning experiences that I enjoyed at GPA’s middle school. I am forever grateful.

On how GPA helped with her next levels of education, i.e., high school and college:

There is no doubt that The Grosse Pointe Acade-

my provided me the academic foundation that later became a major part of my commitment to academic prowess, scholastic excellence, and care for the com-munity. For a quick example, I remember knowing how to write a five-paragraph essay with ease in 9th grade and that other students were starting at a loss. But to be fair, GPA’s impact is vastly more than that. At GPA, I was exposed to the lifestyles of business owners and other pillars of the community. It was there that I was first challenged to become the global citizen that Wellesley College would later mold me to be. GPA was the birthplace of my commitment to di-versity, inclusion, and equality as a life’s mission and daily practice. It was at GPA where I first learned the science behind the birds and the bees, sang and danced on my first stage, and dragged my mother to the mall to purchase my first pair of Birkenstock slip-ins (which I still have!). All I can say is thank you to all of the teachers, staff, stakeholders, parents, classmates, and mentors who I was too young to truly appreciate at that time.

On her involvement with the Girls Empower-ment Network (GEN) and why she got involved in the first place?

I think it’s best to take a step back from GEN and talk about my community-service commitment in general, if I may. In college, following the model of so many distinguished women leaders of color in my family and community, I joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Being a Wellesley woman and a Delta at the same time, I had amazing opportunities to support my community through volunteering. In the last five years, I have worked with a number of great organizations, helping with projects spanning from teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to tutoring and mentoring younger students, and providing resources to support girls in my commu-nity. Most recently since moving to Austin to work in HR management, I have been involved with the Girls Empowerment Network (GEN), which supports and guides girls to make wise decisions, and as a volunteer at various workshops and conferences. I have also started to work with the Girl Scouts of Central Texas by way of my budding business, M4H, which provides professional development consulting for people, businesses and communities.

Academy alum Chanel Geter (’06) graduated from Wellesley College and Wake Forest University and now lives and works in Texas.


ALUMNIREUNION

Second annual Oktoberfest, Academy-style

On October 15, 45 alumni members along with current and retired faculty members gathered together at Atwater in the Park in Grosse Pointe Park to reconnect and share fond memories of their time at 171 Lake Shore Road. The alumni shared their latest successes and all said they look forward to getting together again soon! Check out these photos of alumni with many of their former teachers and friends. There definitely were many a smile shared over the old yearbooks!


Second annual Oktoberfest, Academy-style


to nurture • to challenge • to inspire

with inspiration

Students at The Grosse Pointe

Academy begin their educational

journey in the nurturing environment

of the Early School, the longest

continuously operating Montessori

program in Michigan. With small

class sizes and a dedication to the

value and well-being of every child,

the Academy’s Early School offers

its youngest students the freedom to

explore the excitement of learning on

their own while perfecting individual

talents under the loving guidance of

teachers, all in an environment where

each child is nurtured, challenged

and inspired every day.

Call us today at 313-886-1221 for a

school tour. Wait lists are forming for

the 2016-17 school year.

171 Lake Shore Road

Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.

313.886.1221

gpacademy.org

Education begins

ademicc a - grosse pointe academy€¦ · development, curriculum materials and learning spaces....

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