Hannah Green (TGS '10): Video from Putney School Summer Camps

Sarah Burns (TGS '96) writes: "My husband Dave McMahon are thrilled to be parents to Lyla Quinn McMahon, born January 18, 2011. And the book that I spoke to the 8th graders about all those years ago is finally finished and on the shelves. The Central Park Five was released by Knopf in May of this year, and we are now working on a documentary on the same subject. I heard the 50th celebration was a great success, we were sorry to miss it."

Gael Minton, mother of Bronwyn Minton (TGS '82) and Teal Minton (TGS '85) reports: "Bronwyn: lives in Jackson Hole WY is an artist in many media and with her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute. She is the Assistant Curator of Art at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. She is married to Michael Casey (1999) an electrical contractor and artist with wood and food. They have a little boy Odin Padraig Casey (b. July 7, 2009). Teal: received his MFA from the Iowa Writer's Workshop (2009) and has taught at the U of Iowa for past 2 years. He has just accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Maine Farmington. He and his wife, Shana Youngdahl (poet MFA U Minnesota 2006) and their daughter Adelaide (b.December 11, 2007) are moving to Maine in July."

From former parent Susie Brennan-Sawyer: "Noah (Brennan-Sawyer, TGS '04) is on the deans list at Columbia University in the city of New York. He is a sophomore this year."

A former TGS Grandparent, Shirley Stephenson, recently shared “My two grandsons Bruce (’84) and Ian (’92) Stephenson attended The Grammar School and are having successful careers. Bruce works for a computer company and Ian is a Captain in the Marine Corps. I know that The Grammar School in no small way contributed much to their success in life.”

Camp to Belong volunteer counselor Tyler Harlow (’99), began his 55 day bike ride across America to raise money for the organization, that helps reunite siblings who live separately in foster or adoptive care. On April 15, 2009, he started his journey from the Boston Museum of Science. 

TGS alumni Jacob Knapp (’07) and Jem Wilner (’06) recently starred in New England Youth Theater’s presen tation of Grease. Emily Cuerdon (’09) was stage manager and current students Leyte McNealus and Addie Mahdavi also starred. Former TGS parent and faculty member Rebecca Waxman directed and Alli Lubin, TGS Music Director directed the music.

Cammie Watson (’69) is a full time artist and is living in Truro, MA with her husband and two children. “This past summer’s highlights included a solo show of my paintings at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, an interview on the evening news magazine “The Chronicle” and picking and freezing 17 quarts of wild blueberries with my kids!"

Deborah Campbell Hardy (’71) writes from West Chesterfield, NH where she is teaching horseback riding (several students are TGS children). “I am also working on writing a kids' horse story. My husband Steve is the owner of Green Mountain Forestry and is a race coach at Stratton Mountain. We have five children: Gretchen, 24, lives in Colorado. She graduated from The Culinary Institute of America and works in Avon when she is not traveling to Europe in the summer. Stephanie, 22, lives in Las Vegas and is studying to be a nurse. Sarah, 17, is a senior at Keene High School and is a race coach for Stratton Mountain as well. She also races for Keene High School. She wants to study art and nutrition in college. Jason, 15, and relates everything in life to skiing. He is one of the top alpine racers for Keene High where he is a sophomore. He can be found in the summer fishing with his brother Peter and friends. Peter is 14 and is an 8th grader at Chesterfield Elementary and loves to ski as well." 

Peter Dixon (’71) lives in Westminster West and has his own business as a dairy foods consultant and cheese maker. “I am presently making cheese for Consider Bandwell Farm in West Pawlet, VT.”

Gia Forakis (’74) writes: "I am living in Brooklyn, NY. I am a freelance theater director, working both locally in NYC and regionally around the country. I feel very fortunate to be doing what I love and what I am passionate about, and making a profession out of something I began doing when I was a student at The Grammar School (Ah! the Mummers Play — is that still done at TGS during the holidays?). Life is good. If you happen to be in NYC this fall, I have a show opening Off-Broadway Oct 19–Nov. 9, BLUE BEFORE MORNING. Attached is a photo of my brother, Jozeph Forakis, and I at our father’s 80th Birthday Party last year in California. Joe (or Zeph) lives in Milan, Italy for the last 17 years, where he speaks fluent Italian, and has his own design studio (http://www.forakis.com ). Somehow, we are both single, have no children (to send to TGS), and are pursuing careers that we can trace back to our years at TGS. Peace. Joy." — Gia

Alicia Brelsford Dana (’82) is a proud TGS parent of Willa, who is loving preschool. She is also helping organize the TGS archives in preparation for the 50th 
in 2010!

Andy Dow (’83), son of beloved but sadly gone TGS Office Manager Carol Dow, writes in: "Things are going well. As the days pass, we continue to go on with our lives but never forget. I want to thank everyone at TGS again for allowing us to have the gathering at TGS and creating the beautiful memorial. It really means a lot. Time seems to pass so fast. Tricia and I have 2 beautiful kids. Robbie is 4 and Erin is almost 3. They keep us on our toes. Robbie started pre-school in January at The Grammar School in Somersville, CT. It has proven to be very successful as opposed to the public schools. As I had said, I was amazed at the similarity with TGS in Putney. I am the Director of Quality for G&F Industries in Sturbridge, MA. We are a precision plastic injection molding company. We manufacture many different products including safety glasses and goggles for our soldiers, automotive parts for many different manufacturers, medical devices, safety hard hats, and rifle stocks are some of the big hitters. I have worked there for 16 years. Back in 2001 we had a devastating fire that destroyed the company and then we rebuilt it. It has been interesting. Tricia is currently working for Johnson Memorial Hospital in records. Robbie is currently going to pre-school and takes weekly karate and gymnastics classes. Erin wants to start gymnastics when she turns 3. We enjoy being outside as much as possible, swimming, swinging, building snow forts, riding the snowmobile, etc.I hope all is well at TGS." 
Sincerely, Andy 

Former TGS Parent Lee Petty checked in recently:"The kids are fine and so are the grandkids.Kerrin’s (’83) kids are 9 (Filip Nilsson) and 5 (Nick Nilsson). They both XC ski, play soccer (football) and ice hockey. She is a food inspector for the City of Karlstad in Sweden. Kirk’s (’79) are 8 (Karson) and 4 (Katelyn.) They went to the Medieval Faire this fall and loved it! Kristen (’78) has recently purchased a house of her own in Townshend. Keep us posted on TGS local events now. Many thanks and hello to all." — Lee

Ethan Stead (’90) is living in Austin, Texas, is married to Tracey Overbeck, and has two sons Griffin and Elliot.

Tyler Harlow (’99) on his recent travels: "For my last semester as an undergraduate I participated in a conservation study through the program “Round River Conserva tion Studies” in South America. I lived in Ecuador for three months splitting my time between the city of Cuenca and a field camp at an elevation of 12,000 ft in the high altitude grass lands of the Andes Mountain range. My time there consisted of working side by side with an Ecological foundation, helping them develop relationships with a local community within the park. The projects ranged from teaching sustainable living to providing Payments for Environmental Services. Ecuador is a beautiful country and my experiences there were second to none in my life."

Cassie Howe (’03) is enjoying her second year at St. Andres in Scotland and is studying International Relations and Social An thropology. She also enjoyed spending last summer working for the Obama campaign.

Broddy Childs (’05) is a National Merit Scholar Finalist, a senior at North Mount Hermon, a member of the Cum Laude Society and was recently accepted to MIT. His sisters Francesca and Gracie are students at TGS. Francesca recently interviewed her brother for our newsletter.

What are your fondest memories of TGS?
I remember in fifth grade when Charlie would always impress us by finding whichever drawer he was looking for with his eyes closed — we would always challenge him, but he would always win in the end.  I also remember the mummer’s play and learning to sing all those songs that are still fun to hear.  The best earlier memory is how my class was so proud of itself since we learned how to do so many different types of dances in first and second grade.

How did TGS help prepare you for high school?
The Grammar School taught me to learn independently, so now at high school I can tutor others better and I am able to teach myself difficult concepts outside of class.  The Grammar School also showed me how to enjoy learning, which I prize highly now in high school.

Now that you’ve been at NMH for four years how do you think it has shaped you?
NMH has given me a lot more confidence than I’d ever had, and I feel I am able to be more who I want to be than who I am wanted to be.

How did you prepare for the PSAT’s and the SAT’s?
I don’t like to study for these tests much, so I guess I just made sure I had a full night’s sleep and ate a good breakfast before the test — staying up late is what kills me (before these endurance tests).

What are your future plans?
In college I hope to study computer science and linguistics, and then after college I want to be a programmer — preferably something to do with AI as that combines a knowledge of computer science and linguistics very nicely

Katie Howe (’06) is in her third year at Vermont Academy and is involved with the musical, the student association, soccer, basketball, and tennis. 

George McFadden, who attended TGS until he left in 7th grade in 1996 when his family moved to South Carolina recently sent us these notes: “I just graduated this spring from the University of Virginia as an environmental science major and am currently working for UVA’s environ mental science department as a researcher. I have so many fond memories of TGS. I most of all miss the cross-country trails behind the school and I wish PSD was a requirement for people of all ages. I recently found a copy of Catcher in the Rye from the TGS library, sorry! My passion for biking began in seventh grade with a spring course taught by Chris Osgood combining the Tour de France with mathematics. Since my introduction to the sport I have biked with the UVA road biking club team and am currently planning to bike across America this fall for an environmental cause! Please visit my website at www.eco-patriots.org. My TGS days were great days and I have many fond memories of Putney.”

Gillian Kasser (’95) lives in NY in the Upper East Side working for her father in hotel management.

We are pleased to report the success of Miriam B. Shafer (TGS ’02), with her 2008 Calendar, “Children of Rwanda.” Mim traveled in Africa during 2007 and spent much of February and March in Rwanda where she visited CHABHA- supported projects. CHABHA raises awareness in the US of the plight of children in sub-Saharan Africa affected 
by HIV/AIDS and supports community-based projects for these children in Namibia, Rwanda, and South Africa.  She lives in Vermont and is in her first year at Hampshire College.

The calendar, with stunning photographs of her time spent there, is available at $15.00 each plus shipping. These calendars represent CHABHA’s work in Rwanda, the extreme needs of the children, and their response to help. Quotes from the children accompany Shafer’s piercing views. The calendars make excellent holiday gifts. Visit www.chabha.org for more information.

Her sisters have been busy as well: Ruth (’05) is a Junior at Northfield Mount Hermon and Naomi (’03) was in the South of France since last July. Naomi is off to Middlebury this February.

Hilary Famolare, former TGS parent and staff member writes of her two sons Kirk (’02) and Joe (’01) Meier. “Kirk is a sophomore at UVM and a member of the UVM competitive snowboarding team. Joe is a junior at Northland College, an environmental college in Wisconsin majoring in geology and an avid rock climber.

Erica (’91) and Robert Gustafson (’93) visited for the Medieval Faire weekend. Bob is venturing into online creative media and writing for Script magazine. Erica is just back from a 10 day hiking/biking tour on the Amalfi Coast  in Italy for her job…great job!

Kora Skeele (’05) visited the Faire and told us that she is Junior at The Putney School, captain of the soccer team, and will be in the musical next semester. She is considering pre-med for college.

Former TGS student Brittany Allard has just switched from gymnastics to dance. She’s taking tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop and acrobatics. She’s joined the Ja’Duke Chorus. Recently she was chosen for a part in the Broadway Show of High School Musical. It will be performed at the Shea Theatre in Turners Falls, MA in February. Last year she was in Peter Pan. She loves the stage and is having a wonderful time. This winter she’s playing hockey for Bement and is snowboarding.

Trevor Allard (’02) is a sophomore at University of Hartford majoring in Audio Engineering. He has formed a partnership with Nick Waynelovich of Ja’Duke Productions and is currently spending his winter break installing a recording studio in their facility in Turners Falls, MA. They hope to begin recording Feb. 1. Trevor will be the primary recording engineer while continuing his studies at Hartford. He has also started a sound/DJ business called, “Sweet Sounds Audio”.