Duke School Under the Oak Magazine

1UNDER THE OAK

Duke School in the Community Excellence Through Service Learning and Outreach Projects

Project Workshops for EducatorsPreparing Problem Solvers for the 21st Century

Home-Court AdvantageAthletic Enhancements on Campus

SUMMER 2014

Under the OakUnder the Oak

2 UNDER THE OAK 3UNDER THE OAK

MESSAGE FROM HEAD OF SCHOOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Duke School - a proud contributor in the community.

DUKE SCHOOL IN THE COMMUNITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Student service learning and outreach projects.

FACULTY IN THE FIELD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Alumnus returns to Duke School as faculty member.

COLLABORATIVE ARTS PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Opening music and chorus programs to non-Duke School students.

REFLECTIONS FROM JENNY MURRAY, NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Visiting Duke School as a candidate for a new position.

PLOTTING ON COMMON GROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Expanding Duke School’s community garden for families, faculty and staff.

STAYING CONNECTED WITH MARILYN ORNSTEIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 An educator and project expert’s ongoing services and outreach.

PROJECT WORKSHOPS FOR EDUCATORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Project Work: Preparing Problem Solvers for the 21st Century.

HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Athletic Enhancement Project adds new tennis courts on campus.

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS: ALWAYS A DRAGON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Catching up with Duke School alumni and introducing new graduates.

ON THE COVER: Oak tree on Duke School’s campus. Students and faculty use the oak tree as a regular meeting place and refer to it as U.T.O.T. (under the oak tree).

INSIDE this issueUnder the OakDUKE SCHOOL CORE VALUESWHAT WE DO Inspire learners to boldly and creatively shape their future.

IDEAS WE LIVE BY

LEARNER-CENTEREDLearners are the center of a dynamic and collaborativelearning, inquiry and discovery process.

ACTIVE INQUIRYIntellectual curiosity through project-based learningpropels learners to explore multiple pathsto creative solutions.

BOLD THINKERSA deep love of learning and respect for our community forms bold, critical thinkers for life.

WHY WE DO ITTo prepare the next generation of problem solversfor our complex world.

EDITORS Tracy Proctor Irecka Smith

WRITERS Kathy Bartelmay Ann Davis

MAGAZINE DIRECTOR Nicole Thompson

HEAD OF SCHOOL Dave Michelman

DESIGNER Gina Lorsson

PHOTOGRAPHER Molly Cronenwett

Duke School publishes Under the Oak annually for its alumni, parents, grandparents and friends. If you would like to add someone to our mailing list, please e-mail [email protected]. We also welcome news about alumni for future publications; please e-mail [email protected] with this information.

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Pat Bassett, the long-time President of NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools), once remarked that if the only ones who would be upset by your school disappearing are current and past parents and students then you are too insular. A great school is one that prepares its students well and is a vital contributor to the town in which it resides. Duke School is proud of the contributions it makes to Durham.

Perhaps Duke School’s most obvious contribution to Durham is through the service outreach our first through eighth grade students participate in. Students support BackPack Buddies, read to reluctant beginning readers and feed lemurs. While students, naturally, take much from these experiences, they also help strengthen Durham.

Students do more through projects. For the last several years, the seventh grade has adopted a park. The seventh graders work with Durham Parks and Recreation Department to identify a city park in need of improvements. The students survey neighbors, explore the park and investigate successful parks. They then present a plan of improvement with a budget to representatives of Durham’s Park and Recreation department. The plan is debated by the city and then the approved parts are implemented. In the last few years, parks have gotten new water fountains, community gardens, bird houses, improved basketball courts, and slick new paint jobs because of our students.

The fifth grade does a non-profit project where they learn about how non-profits operate, including how they market, fundraise and how they live their mission. In the last few years, students have persuaded me to make Duke School the training center for the dogs of BARKS, and three students were asked to present at a non-profit’s development event.

Even eighth graders still support the community as part of their capstone individual project. Students have painted murals on older buildings, have decorated rooms at the Ronald McDonald House and have designed iPhone apps for pediatric cancer patients.

Parents have also gotten into the act. At least three times a years, families come together to help our community. They participate in the Big Sweep; they help package 10,000 meals as part of Stop Hunger Now and collect books for Book Harvest, an organization started by a Duke School parent, which gives books to underprivileged children.

The entire organization supports the Durham community. For the past two years, Duke School has collaborated with other non-profit organizations in the Chapel Hill/Durham area to sponsor a week-long adventure, The Collage Project. The summer program brings middle school students from diverse backgrounds together for an expense-free collaborative arts experience.

All of these initiatives show Duke School as an important partner in the Durham community. Even our unique approach to education provides educational alternatives to entrepreneurs, professionals, professors

and doctors who are considering moving to the area. Duke School has a real appeal to the creative class, which helps Durham continue its amazing renaissance as a wonderful place to live and work.

As Duke School strives to create the next generation of problem solvers, a part of this mission is to model good citizenship through service learning – a curriculum designed to introduce students at a young age to stewardship and the importance of giving back to the community and creatively solving preexisting problems. I think we are doing a pretty good job.

Message from Dave Michelman, Head of School

DUKE SCHOOL, IN THE C MMUNITYFostering an environment where students are at the center of a dynamic and collaborative learning process goes beyond the classroom. Duke School strives to lead by example—to be the epitome of excellence by instilling the principals of stewardship in its students at a young age through service learning. This is evident in activities from the management of on-campus recycling to caring for an endangered species.

Service learning, the ongoing commitment to community service and outreach, has always been a part of Duke School’s curriculum. While preschoolers and kindergarteners learn the fundamentals of responsibility and assist their teachers with the upkeep of their classrooms, first through eighth graders collaborate with local organizations and create service projects unique to their grade. There are no required hours of service because Duke School students want to work in their community. Students even create opportunities to be model citizens of the Triangle beyond their grade-level projects.

This year, the Middle School Student Council members created a giving tree and donated clothes, shoes, toys and 1,434 canned goods to Urban Ministries of Durham. Seventh graders have adopted city parks in Durham, partnering with Durham Parks and Recreation and Duke Forest to discuss ways in which they can be of service and help make improvements to local parks. Students have also worked with children with autism and volunteered at Kids Cafe, where they tutored, prepared meals for and planned STEM activities for children. Even Duke School’s parents, grandparents, faculty and staff help students make an impact in the community by raising more than $4,400 for Durham’s CROP Hunger Walk event and donating 2,520 books to Book Harvest.

However, that’s only a snapshot of Duke School’s community efforts. For six years, Duke School’s first graders have partnered with BackPack Buddies,

an organization that provides children from food-insecure homes with weekend meals during the school year. A developmentally appropriate project, BackPack Buddies connects perfectly with the first grade healthy-selves curriculum and raises awareness about the need to help others. Additionally, students are empowered by knowing that what they do matters.

“Children understand that they are helping children of all ages,” says Carolynn Hageman, first grade teacher. “Service learning is really meaningful because it fits in with everything we do. Our hope is that they will continue this work of helping others.”

As children transition from the Lower to Middle School, their service learning projects are just as important and they naturally advance. Fifth graders are introduced to research through their work with the Duke Lemur Center service project—a

partnership since 2008.

“Students learn about the value of research and conservation, as well as all that goes into caring for the lemurs on a daily basis,” says Annie Gentithes, sixth grade teacher. “There are rich connections between our ongoing work at the Lemur Center and the fifth grade Zoo Project in the spring. Students realize how special it is to have a world-renowned research center right across the street from the school. ”

Fifth graders visit the Lemur Center once a month to learn the trade of being a keeper by cleaning nesting boxes, creating and delivering enrichment, and preparing individualized diets for each lemur.

“Everyone can be a steward for their community,” says teacher Angela Nelson. “All it takes is some research, a plan and follow through.”

Following through is one of Duke School’s greatest contributions to the greater Durham community. Service learning and outreach projects provide students with valuable opportunities to use their research and planning skills to make an impact. Just look for the students who are wearing their maroon and grey t-shirts, eager to find and execute their creative solutions to local problems.


FACULTY IN THE FIELD

with MICHAEL GILBERT

A: The experiences I had in AmeriCorps greatly influenced my life. Building trails and working with the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief were both humbling and exciting. I was able to make the outdoors accessible and provide help to people in Louisiana. Working with children was great too, although what really opened my mind and made me committed to becoming a teacher was teaching Spanish-speaking adults English at an elementary school in Colorado. Other Corps members and I taught parents at the school while their children were in class. The adults were so kind, grateful and eager to learn, plus they occasionally cooked us amazing food!

Q: As a Duke School alumnus, having attended Duke School from kindergarten to eighth grade, how has project work and inquiry-based learning evolved since you were a student?

A: In sixth grade at Duke School I had a teacher, Thomas Carson. For our science project we were interested in making a pond here at the Erwin Road campus. The class decided how big to make it and researched the plants and fish that would best survive in the climate we provided them with. We called garden stores and researched how to make the pond. I think now, our faculty continues to follow student interest, guide children and

facilitate meaningful learning in a very similar way. I just think the work continues to get deeper and the investigations more varied. I have noticed that the children are using even more reading, writing and math in project work than when I was a student here.

Q: Duke School’s campus has changed a lot since you were a student on Duke School’s former Lower School campus on Hull Avenue, but what has remained the same?

A: Last night I was sitting at graduation for the eighth graders and thinking about this same question. It seemed like our eighth graders were experiencing the same things I felt when attending Duke School.

Duke School continues to have a wonderful, supportive community of learners. The teachers and parents all want what is best for the children. The children work together and collaborate. The children are still funny and have fun together.

Q: After experiencing Duke School as a student and now a faculty member, do you feel like your connection to the school gives you an advantage?

A: I think the connection does give me an advantage. I was fortunate last year to substitute teach in Kate and Kerry’s class. Kate was my third

grade teacher here at Duke School and now I was learning how to be a better teacher from her. Working with one of my former teachers on a professional level and reminiscing about when I was in third grade was wonderful. I now walk my students to art and PE with the very same teachers, Marki and Candy, that I had when I was at Duke School. It is very cool.

Q: Duke School incorporates service learning projects and community outreach activities into the curriculum at an early age. As a kindergarten teacher, how do you prepare your students for service learning?

A: Service work is important to me. I did this in AmeriCorps and still do it today. This year our kindergarten class was able to help build the garden beds at the new and fantastic community garden. They brought shovels and wheel barrels and put the first dirt into the beds. I was surprised at how hard and how long they worked. They insisted that they would not stop until the job was done. This attitude is so important to instill in kids at an early

age, and I am happy that the kindergarten children will continue service learning at Duke School.

Q: You have had several professional development and training opportunities, including working personally with Dr. Sylvia Chard. How did these opportunities prepare you for your first school year as a Duke School teacher?

A: I am very fortunate to have studied with Dr. Sylvia Chard. I love project work. Dr. Chard and former kindergarten teacher/consultant Marilyn Ornstein helped us at the beginning of this year when our class was studying pets. Our children started to make a list of questions they wanted to investigate. These questions were honestly pretty low level, and Laurie Ann and I didn’t know what to do. Dr. Chard and Marilyn gave us great advice. When asking a question, the children should always pretend they are talking to a real expert. Then the questions will be more thoughtful and meaningful. Sure enough, this method worked. Our children continued to ask thoughtful questions throughout the year.

Before becoming a teacher, you joined AmeriCorps and volunteered with the hurricane relief, built trails and

taught young children. Can you talk about this experience and how it influenced you to become an educator?

“Duke School continues to have a wonderful, supportive community of learners. The teachers and parents all want what is best for the children.”

Eight students from the Lerner School, Triangle Day School and members of the homeschool community performed alongside Duke School’s Middle School band and chorus students in this year’s winter and spring concert.

These students travel to Duke School’s campus twice weekly for combined rehearsals with Duke School students.

“Opening the Middle School music programs to students from schools without band and chorus programs and homeschool families with no

access to band or chorus exposes families from other schools to Duke School’s campus, culture and community,” says Director of Auxiliary and Alternative Programs, Les Webster. “It also has the added benefit

of giving Duke School students an opportunity to work with like-minded students from the surrounding independent school and homeschool community.”

COLLABORATIVEARTSPROGRAM


The votes are in, and so it is that Duke School is the home of a community garden – a place for families to grow produce and flowers for their personal use.

Nestled next to the Middle School Gym, the community garden contributes to a more sustainable environment, promotes a positive community image and creates opportunities for friends and neighbors to work together.

Last year, members of the Parent Service Organization (PSO) Garden Committee borrowed space from the Preschool to begin a small garden. The garden was a hit, and after its harvest was served at a Duke School community dinner, there was a high demand for more space to grow fresh fruits and vegetables.

Fast-forward a year, and now there’s a beautiful area, hosting 18 plots, all of which are in use. Several classes have also taken the community garden under their wings to care for and complete project work activities.

Even the creation of the community garden was fertile soil for project work. Fifth graders measured the perimeter of the fence, and the area and volume of the plots to help the school determine estimates for the garden’s fence and soil. Kindergarteners used tiny shovels and wheelbarrows to move soil, while one class even rented a plot for project work. Some fourth graders planted sweet potatoes, corn beans and squash to represent their North Carolina project.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of the community garden, besides the fact that people are growing their own foods, is the way in which it naturally builds the school community. Families are working together, sharing advice and even helping each other water plots.

“It is a true community feel,” says Student Support Specialist Tiffane Land, who observed three generations working in the garden together. “We are connecting with families within our community that we would not normally come across because our kids are in different grades.”

Tiffane says there is available space for the community garden’s expansion in the future. Future garden plans also include a fence display of student murals, planting of berry bushes and fruit trees as well as workshops and events that will be open to the entire Duke School community.

Reflections from JennyNew Middle School Director

“...What I didn’t know was that I would find myself looking at Duke

School through a different lens....

I would be visiting a school I’ve loved as a parentand teacher for so many years, as a Middle School

director candidate. What I found was a renewed passion and conviction that Duke School is

a special place and the right one for me.”

Spr i ng is the time for college visits for families across the country, mine included. My husband Craig and I had planned for this milestone since that proud day four years ago when we watched our son, Logan, graduate from eighth grade at Duke School. I still smile when I hear the Journey song he and his classmates chose to sing at the graduation ceremony.

Just as prospective college students make a campus visit, so do educators. What I didn’t know was that I would find myself looking at Duke School through a different lens. I would be visiting a school I’ve loved as a parent and teacher for so many years, as a Middle School director candidate. Even though I was already quite familiar with Duke School and its campus, my visit day brought with it new information and deepened my understanding not unlike the college visits Logan, Craig and I took across the state and up the east coast.

My visit and interview day started with an overview information session with the Head of School, Dave Michelman, who asked me questions and answered my queries to confirm that we are a

good match. I then moved on to

meetings with various constituencies— teachers, students and parents—each with their own questions and important information, not unlike the academic department sessions at most colleges. I even met with the people who control the finances and make it possible for us to do the great work that we do. In each session, I answered and asked questions so that we could all feel comfortable with the decision ahead.

What I found was a renewed passion and conviction that Duke School is a special place and the right one for me. Educators, administrators, students and parents here are dedicated, talented people who want the very best for children educationally, socially and emotionally. Teachers care deeply about the program they deliver for children each and every day. Parents want to understand and be involved in their children’s school. Students want to learn, explore and grow. Administrators want to lead in creating an environment that allows all parties to work together to achieve the established goals and beyond.

I am honored to be the next Middle School director, and I look forward to working in this new capacity with such a diverse and involved group of people. Working together, I foresee an even brighter future for our beloved Middle School.

Alas, college visits have ended, and my son has chosen his next educational home. As he continues

to build on the strong foundation from his years at Duke School, I feel confident that he too has chosen well.

Logan’s next “educational home” along with his fellow Duke School classmates can be found on page 18.

PLOTTINGON COMMON GROUND

8 UNDER THE OAK


Few people have a history with Duke School like

Marilyn Ornstein. Marilyn began her tenure at

Duke School in 1982 in the midst of an already

well-established early childhood education career.

Since retiring in 2011, Marilyn has continued to

share her wealth of knowledge at the school

partially as a substitute teacher but more often

as a consultant, working with teacher pairs on

their training in the Project Approach, the specific

project-based style of learning in which the school

has become a leader.

A New York City native, Marilyn went to school at

Queens College and taught second grade on the

lower east side of Manhattan for two years before

moving to Wisconsin for her husband’s doctoral

studies. She taught third grade in Wisconsin,

then preschool in Princeton, New Jersey, before

settling in the Durham/Chapel Hill area in the early

1970s and teaching two- and three-year-olds.

Marilyn’s expertise with Duke School’s project-

based curriculum began when Margaret Mason,

then curriculum director, sent her to a workshop

with Drs.Lilian Katz and Sylvia Chard – the creators

of the Project Approach. Margaret realized the

benefit of this particular type of learning and

chose Marilyn to gather the first information on

it because of her extensive background in early

childhood education.

As Duke School integrated the Project Approach,

Marilyn’s expertise became sought after throughout

the North Carolina education community, not just

by private schools but by the public sector as well.

The Randolph County Partnership for Children

not only sends representatives to Duke School-

hosted educator workshops, but has requested

that Marilyn travel to them multiple times over the

past few years for extra education on the Project

Approach.

Marilyn has also been part of a number of books

and pamphlets on early education published by

the NC Department of Public Instruction including

“the North Carolina Guide for the Early Years” and

“Learning Through the Eyes of a Child: A Guide to

Best Teaching Practices in Early Education.”

Recently, Marilyn was part of a think tank

sponsored by Duke University’s Sanford School of

Public Policy and the North Carolina Department

of Public Instruction. This group created a

learning and development assessment tool for

kindergarten through third grade. It is hoped that

public schools will use this tool when planning

their goals and curricula. While participating in

this think tank, Marilyn had the chance to work

with a special new collaborator - her husband.

Peter is a developmental psychologist at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and,

somewhat surprisingly, this is the first time their

related careers have ever directly crossed paths.

Outside of formal education settings, Marilyn’s

hobbies include teaching, as well. This fact isn’t

that surprising as she says, “teaching is in me from

the top of my head to the bottom of my toes!”

Through a UNC partnership program, she has

been working with a Burmese family teaching

both a six-year-old student and his father.

Marilyn also currently volunteers with the Durham

Literacy Council, where she tutors a woman from

the Republic of Guinea who had no education in

her first language, let alone English. After working

for years with young children who come from

a literate background, here was a student who

didn’t even know how to hold a pencil. It required

a different way to approach teaching her to read.

After about three years of

working together, this woman

recently passed her citizenship

test, and Marilyn was there to

see her sworn in as an American

citizen.

When not furthering the

education of others, Marilyn

embodies Duke School’s

mission of lifelong learning

in her personal life. She is a

regular student of the Osher

Lifelong Learning Institute

(OLLI) at Duke University. In

the past few years she has

studied the history of jazz and ballet, Haiti, Ernest

Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and other

literary expatriates in Paris, and the Trojan War

through the works of Euripides.

Marilyn has passed her love of learning and

teaching on not just to her students and fellow

teachers but to her family, as well. One of her

daughters is a clinical psychologist at the ADHD

Clinic at Duke University, working with families on

how their children can become successful learners.

Her other daughter is a preschool teacher at

Duke School. Miriam Ornstein and her co-teacher

Maureen were actually the first pair of Duke

School teachers with whom Marilyn consulted on

the Project Approach after her retirement.

Head of School Dave Michelman calls Marilyn an

institution and a treasure. “Her knowledge of

project development and the extensive work she

has done with new teachers is invaluable,” he says.

Not content to be a subject expert, her sharing

of knowledge with current teachers will benefit

children for years to come, not just at Duke School

but all over North Carolina.

STAYING CONNECTED

with Marilyn Ornstein

Marilyn attending her student’s Naturalization Ceremony.


PROJECT WORKSHOP FOR EDUCATORS

Project-based learning is definitely in the limelight

these days. Schools across the country, striving to

prepare students for the 21st century, are seeking

ways to engage its students in strategic inquiry

work and problem solving. At Duke School, on

the other hand, inquiry-based project work has

been fundamental since its inception. As Lower

School Director Sandy Gillespie says, “The Project

Approach is designed to get children interested

in learning and to take ownership of their own

education,” a value now considered as best

practice across the country.

When the school began getting more requests for

educator tours and project training than it could

handle, Les Webster, Duke School’s director of

auxiliary and alternative programs, and directors

Kathy Bartelmay, Sandy Gillespie and Jenny

Murray, saw this as an unique opportunity. A

Summer Institute for Educators, Project Work:

Preparing Problem Solvers for the 21st Century,

was launched in 2013. The workshop quickly filled

with educators from across the country, eager to

learn how to implement inquiry-based projects in

their own schools.

The first seeds for the project workshops were

sown in 1996 when Drs. Lilian Katz and Sylvia

Chard, creators of the Project Approach, visited

Duke School and conducted a four-day workshop

for the entire faculty. The goal was to deepen every

faculty member’s understanding of project work

and to build a cohesive preschool through eighth

grade program. The school has had an ongoing

relationship with Drs. Katz and Chard ever since,

sending new teachers to their Summer Institute at

the University of Illinois and inviting Dr. Chard to

consult on a regular basis.

But most importantly, faculty members continue

the work and have conversations day in and day out

about planning projects collaboratively, observing

one another’s classroom and sharing samples of

student work.

“The conversations and shared student work has

made a huge difference to student success and my

journey as a learner,” says Julie Marshall, second

grade teacher and project committee member.

As a result of this ongoing work, Duke School

teachers have become leaders in inquiry-based

project work. Their work has been featured in

several publications by Drs. Katz and Chard and on

the Project Approach Web site. In addition, Kathy

and Sandy are members of the Project Approach

Teacher Education Network (PATEN), a small team

of Project Approach consultants.

But learning about the Project Approach at a

conference is not as powerful as seeing it in action.

When Kathy received a request to train teachers at

the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge a few years

ago, she invited them to visit Duke School instead.

In addition to observing students deeply engaged

in their investigations, educators were able to ask

Duke School teachers logistical questions that

were essential for successful implementation of

inquiry-based curriculum.

“It’s one of my favorite things, to teach teachers,”

says Jenny. “We can help more children that way.

It’s exciting to know that what we know about

teaching children best will go to other schools.”

Duke School now hosts a Winter and Summer

Institute for educators each year. The next Summer

Institute will be this August.

“This has really changed my thinking about project

work and how to do it. It’s been wonderful to

see kids so engaged and be such great problem

solvers,” one participant wrote in her workshop

evaluation.

Just as Duke School teaches its students to be

productive members of their community, the school

itself is a great example to other independent and

public schools.

Lower School art teachers Marki and Jodi with kindergarten students.

Sixth grade teacher Michelle Reich with student Lauren Taylor.


so it would be a great addition to the PE program,”

says Dave.

For all these reasons, “we are so pleased that the

tennis courts have come about,” says Jean. “Not

many schools that only go through grade eight

have their own tennis courts. We are very, very

lucky.”

Dave says because of the school’s solid financial

status, it was able to allocate a portion of its

bond funds (which are designated for capital

improvements) to the Athletic Enhancement

Project. This source of funding in conjunction

with the restricted gifts received from several

private donors helped fund the project in totality

and avoided a major campaign. The Athletic

Enhancement Project is a valuable addition

to Duke School and will provide considerable

enhancements for students, parents and alumni.

“Thanks to the support of generous donors, Duke

School students will be able to begin playing on

their own tennis courts next academic year,” says

Kenneth W. Chandler, Duke School’s director of

development. “Plans for enhancing our soccer

fields are still under review, and we are continuing

to evaluate the best ways to enhance the current

field and plan for appropriate irrigation. These gifts

have helped to strengthen our athletic program

and enrich the student-athlete experience. ”

HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE

Duke School has evolved quite a bit since its

creation in 1947, most recently and visibly with

the relocation of the Lower School to create

one cohesive campus. Now, a new athletic

enhancement project is underway—the creation

of new tennis courts.

It has long been planned to add tennis courts to

Duke School’s campus as, until now, the boys’

and girls’ tennis teams are the only school athletic

teams that do

not practice and

compete onsite.

Currently, the

tennis teams

use the courts at

Morreene Road

Park, just a few

minutes away.

Athletic Director

and Middle School Physical Education Teacher

Jean Sartain said the Morreene Road courts are

“as good as it can be if you don’t have your own

courts,” but there are many benefits to having the

courts on campus.

The first benefit is that by having courts onsite

Duke School can be responsible for their upkeep

and keep them in tiptop condition, instead of

having to deal with public courts that may be low

on the county’s maintenance priority list. Jean

says she believes some students are discouraged

from enjoying tennis because the city courts are

showing wear and tear, and they are very excited

to have really good courts on which to play.

Tennis matches will be more efficient when held

on campus. Students will no longer have to waste

practice time being bussed to the public courts.

While only a few minutes away, those wasted

minutes add up over a season. Also, there are only

five courts at Morreene Road, and there will be six

at Duke School. This means that one more set of

opponents can be competing at the same time,

and everyone can have their turn sooner.

One great advantage to having home courts is that

more people will come to watch the tennis teams

compete. Right now, the spectators are mainly

parents. By having matches directly on campus,

more students will

be able to stay

to cheer on their

classmates while

they compete.

Head of School

Dave Michelman

says it will be a

great benefit for

Duke School’s

tennis teams to feel more a part of the school’s

athletic community.

In addition, either by having more exposure to the

school matches or just from being tempted by the

shiny new courts, Jean says that it is likely more

students will want to join the teams. This spring,

nine boys are on the tennis team, and fourteen

girls competed for Duke School this past fall.

Plus, having onsite courts means that they will be

available to the Duke School community and add

to the school’s summer camp programs.

Having tennis courts on campus also means that

tennis can now be taught as part of the physical

education curriculum. “Tennis is a lifelong sport,

14 15UNDER THE OAK UNDER THE OAK

One great advantage to having home courts is that

more people will come to watch the tennis teams compete.


MINI-PROFILES CLASS OF 2000

Meet Julia FioreJulia attended Duke

School from preschool

through eighth grade

and then went to

Durham School of the

Arts. While at Vassar

College, she majored in

environmental studies

and spent summers

in Durham working at summer camps. After

graduating, Julia spent a few years teaching on an

educational farm in California, and since 2011, she

has been the program director at Camp Riverlea,

a day camp in Durham County. She also worked

at two farms in Durham County, including Little

Sprout Farm, where she helped grow veggies and

the Prodigal Farm, where she worked with goats

and learned the trade of cheese making.

With many happy memories from being a

student at Duke School, Julia was delighted to

join the Development Office as the events and

Parent Service Organization (PSO) coordinator in

December 2013. She has enjoyed helping the PSO

organize events and re-connecting with the school

and with her former teachers.

As an alumna, she was the perfect person to lead

Duke School’s alumni network. Since Julia began

working at Duke School, she has created a Duke

School Alumni Facebook Group. The group has

more than 140 members, consisting of former Duke

School students and teachers, and is continuing to

grow. Julia looks forward to organizing exciting

community events and expanding the alumni

network in the year ahead.

Julia started connecting with her fellow Class of

2000 alums first and learned that they have had

varied and successful experiences since leaving

Duke School.

Kate Chavez (Hotelling) started working for

a local non-profit that provides resources to

developmentally disabled adults after she

graduated from the University of New Mexico. Her

work inspired her to pursue the behavioral health

field, and she is currently at New Mexico Highlands

University in the second semester of her masters

in clinical social work. Kate is also a newlywed,

marrying in June of 2013. She currently lives in

Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she works with

high-risk kids at a seventh through twelfth grade

charter school.

Tory Clark received her undergraduate degree

from Tufts University and has stayed in the

Cambridge/Boston area. She spent about five

years “gallivanting about the globe,” teaching

countries about climate change and energy

software. She is now in her second semester of an

energy policy masters program at Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT).

Iris Jackola (Warszawski) received her nursing

degree from Duke University and is now returning

to school to become a family nurse practitioner. In

May 2011, she got married and this past October,

had a baby girl, Hadley Michelle! Iris says her life

is super busy working full time, being a mom and

wife and attending school part time but “totally

worth it.”

Emma Schall graduated from Loyola University in

New Orleans, where she studied graphic design.

After graduating, she began working for Line 58,

a branding and web design firm. Emma has lived

in New Orleans for 10 years and says it has been

an adventure. Traveling has been a big part of her

family’s life as they have visited Ecuador, Chile and

Quebec. She is recently engaged and planning a

wedding for next spring.

Annelle Sheline went to New York University’s

(NYU) Gallatin School of Individualized Study, then

worked as a journalist in Egypt and Yemen for a

few years before returning to the United States

to complete a Ph.D. in political science at The

George Washington University in D.C. Annelle’s

research is on the Middle East, and she will be in

the Persian Gulf and the Levant next year doing

fieldwork for her dissertation. Annelle says Duke

School’s former teacher Jane Ann McCullough

remains the best teacher she ever had!

Elyssa Weber is currently enrolled in a clinical

psychology doctoral program at the University of

Massachusetts, Boston, where she researches the

effects of natural disasters. As part of her program,

Elyssa is also conducting clinical work

in neuropsychology at a Boston area

hospital. She previously worked at

the University of Maryland, Baltimore,

conducting psychiatric research after

graduating from Wellesley College. In

her free time she enjoy arts and crafts

and catching up with her old friends from

Duke School.

We will feature a class notes section in

future publications. Please send notes to

Julia at [email protected].

Alumni Connections: Always a Dragon

If you graduated (completed eighth grade) or ever attended Duke School, you are an alumnus/alumna.

“The Bench” built by the Class of 2000 and repainted many times since then.


Carolina Friends School: Megan AurentzViolet BishopGwyneth GrahamJackson KennedyAdina Ornstein-LuksBen Westlund Cedar Ridge High School: Grace McGheeKate Milner Sol RosenbluthWilliam Stiffler Chapel Hill High School: Olivia Garcia

Durham Academy: Jaspreet Bhutani Gwen Caudle Catherine Horrigan Charles Hua Jake Jeffries Ava PacchianaSterling Roberts

Durham School of the Arts: Juliana Manson

East Chapel Hill High School: Noah Clapacs Molly HoranEli Schulman

Jordan High School: Emily Coin Estelle HamiltonJulian Morrison Andrew TaylorIngrid TrostMaya SatersonTrent Smith

Riverside High School: Ryan GreenblattConnor Van Deman Carrboro High School: Chloe Turner

Cardinal Gibbons High School: Eric Horlbeck Sam MarcomJoey Uzarski

Northwood High School: Bridget O’Donnell

Panther Creek High School: Alex Cole Morgan Gustafson

Public School in California:Kalina Aragon

Undecided:Anna Marshall Sean Williams Bella Xavier

HIGH SCHOOL DESTINATIONS OF 2014 GRADS

Marisela AguirreAlisha Anaya

Alice BroderickIsaiah Bryant

Corey ColemanAvery Dart

Alaina DeLisleSean FreemermanAlexandra Garcia

Drew GotwalsBrandon Hawkins

Charles HerstRachel Hill

Ryan JacksonJustin Katz

Eleanor KunzEmily Lane

Naomi LernerErik Lutz

Lia ManosZac Marion

Nathaniel MerrillThomas Moorhead

Collins MullenGrant Murphy-Herndon

Logan MurrayRex Musette-Blumenthal

Tara NagarCamille Oliverio

Emma PostelMalcolm Price

Kaitlyn ReedWill RuffEve Ruff

Jawaun ShortMaya SuggAlex Teunis

Nathan VanLandinghamEmma WestlundAbby WestlundAnnie Wieland

Colin WilkinsOdom Williford

Lucy WooldridgeJulian Young

East Carolina UniversityGeorge Washington UniversityVirginia Commonwealth UniversityBrown UniversityNortheastern UniversityUNC - WilmingtonEast Carolina UniversityUNC - Chapel Hill*Appalachian State UniversityWake Forest UniversityAppalachian State UniversityYale UniversityUNC - Chapel HillYale UniversityNorth Carolina State UniversityHarvey Mudd CollegeUNC - Chapel HillNorth Carolina State University UNC - Chapel HillDuke UniversityMacalester College - St. Paul, MNUNC - GreensboroUNC - Chapel HillNorthwestern UniversityNorth Carolina State University - College of DesignUNC - AshevilleDuke UniversityVirginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Wellesley CollegeGuilford CollegeAppalachian State UniversityColumbia UniversityNortheastern UniversityNorth Carolina A&T UniversityUNC - AshevilleEmory CollegeEmory & Henry CollegeDenison UniversityFurman UniversityNortheastern UniversityAmerican Field Service International Exchange Program - NorwayUNC - AshevilleDuke UniversityElon University

Join our Duke School Alumni Facebook Group – a forum for reconnecting with old classmates while keeping in touch with Duke School.

Alumni Connections: Destinations of 2010 Grads

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2014!

WE WILL MISS YOU!

* Plans not yet known/confirmed

CLASS HIGHLIGHTSRACHEL HILL

Valedictorian at Jordan High School

JUSTIN KATZ Valedictorian at Durham Academy

ZAC MARION Valedictorian at Cedar Ridge High School

20 UNDER THE OAKPhoto: Christine Prisk

Duke School launched its new school logo, marketing campaign and named the Duke School dragon mascot, Sparky in 2011-12. Duke School’s logo expresses an energy and balance (yin & yang), movement, reciprocity, interaction and growth. The dragon connotes action, adventure, energy and imagination – all important attributes of Duke School. We are dragons, We are real!

Documents

Duke School Under the Oak Magazine