In Tandem	Alumni Newsletter Spring 1998
	Page 3

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[ June 1998 Reunion ] [ Pg. 1 | Dear Alumni | Newsbriefs | Spotlight On ] [ Pg. 2 | Alumni Notes | Special Note for 75's ] [ Pg. 3 | Up on the Hill | Alumni Sightings | Alumni Council News | Members | Leaves on the Tree | How to Volunteer ] [ Home | Online Form | Contact ]

Up on the Hill...

Julia Stone, grade 11

Today is Tuesday. Driving down Route 69, Acoustic Sunrise belting out from my front speakers, I wondered what the day might bring. It was grey and wet outside, typical of this year - let us blame El Niño or what not - and I had been feeling kind of reluctant to even get out of bed this morning. Figuring that I would want to leave school as close to 3:30 as possible, I parked by the trash barrel where no one would double park me in. I took my bags down to my locker only to find that the door was locked, yet again, and mumbling some harsh words about the "responsible" administration, headed to the lounge. Ahhh - this is exactly where I wanted to be, drinking my hot chocolate on the couch with my friends, listening to pieces of about a million conversations. "Did you see what Robbie did to his hand puppet?" "Our swing dance class is going to NY!" "I'm leaving for France in 4 days!"... and my own conversation debating whether the Beats were actually good writers or just another self-indulgent middle class group. And then, as usual, there was the bell. The students in the lounge then slowly migrated to the newer and larger Community Hall. Although I wasn't at Tandem 15 years ago, I'll bet that little about meeting has changed. There were the usual announcements of upcoming events - the school auction, emphasis, soccer games, mixed with the more flavorful readings and general comments. Work crew complaints seemed to hit their acme this morning. Then one of the history teachers read us some pretty hilarious fresh-off-the-internet grammatical slippings.

Physics is my first class, so I went there next. We learned about some mysterious entity that scientists, and probably some mathematicians, termed the "virtual photon." We also managed to bend a stream of water with a glass rod charged through turboelectricity and almost shocked Nora with some strange capacitator device. I have only come to one conclusion in Physics: the normal answer I think of needs only to be completely reversed to be correct.

Well, on to English. Currently, our class is reading Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I happened to really be enjoying it until English class that day when I realized that I had misinterpreted approximately the whole plot. But English is always fun - lively discussions and provoking questions. History class, as well, maintains a certain level of fun with our dry, witty teacher Sandy calmly insulting many of our most famous historical events. I snickered in the corner as she hilariously described William Taft as the president you "don't want to be." Next, I went to math and then lunch. By this time the sun was breaking out and I ate on the back porch listening to my friend Jay play self-composed works on his guitar. The day was starting to look up - all of my hardest classes behind me and now food, music, and sun. Tom O'Connor is still patrolling the place, as if in search of some lost schedule or date book. He tried to talk me and Jay into going to the local "teen dance" at Fry Springs pool, to which we jokingly responded that any event advertising "Hanson and Spice Girls" as the dance tunes could kiss our invitation good-bye. Then I drifted off to my sweet joyous memoir class. We planted sunflower seeds in the greenhouse and later are going to write a memoir of their growth. Shortly after that, I went to work on the school newsletter which was when Adrienne reminded me to write this piece. Then I went to the basement to visit Pru and see how her latest weaving creation was turning out: beautifully. Finally, I summed my school day up with Spanish class where I wrote a short script about a grasshopper - saltamonte, a cricket - críquet, and a spider - aranja. So that was my Tuesday, actually turning out to be pretty fun and interesting and still full of the boundless Tandem spirit which can uplift your own if you're feeling a little down.

[ June 1998 Reunion ] [ Pg. 1 | Dear Alumni | Newsbriefs | Spotlight On ] [ Pg. 2 | Alumni Notes | Special Note for 75's ] [ Pg. 3 | Up on the Hill | Alumni Sightings | Alumni Council News | Members | Leaves on the Tree | How to Volunteer ] [ Home | Online Form | Contact ]

Alumni Sightings

Where we were this winter

Alumni Speakers Panel

The first in a series of what will hopefully become an annual alumni speakers event took place on Friday, March 27 at Tandem. From Waynesboro and D.C. they drove, to speak with students about careers, life choices, and the twisty-turning path of life. Doug Day '73 shared his experiences as a folklorist and took time after the meeting to play a little blues for a few students. Meredith Cole '88 announced the debut of her feature length film which will take place at a film festival in Manhattan in late April. David Morris '91 discussed his most recent work as set designer for the Tandem production of "The Foreigner," as well as design work he has done in New York City. Alison Hormel Webb '74 talked with students about her very personal experience as a founder of the Virginia Institute for Autism, a school for autistic children. Though she never envisioned herself directing a school, both of her children were diagnosed with autism; the school was founded to provide autistic children with the educational experiences best suited to their needs. Nathan Abse '83 discussed the ups and downs of journalism, writing, and working as a leg-reporter. He told students about a recently published book that he researched and wrote for entitled Cornered: Big Tobacco at the Bar of Justice; he describes it as an investigative dirt-digging tale of the tobacco industry. Time was short for the event and, unfortunately we did not get as much Q&A in as we would have liked. The kids were definitely into these alumni stories; several came afterwards to ask Doug to play a song on his guitar, to get the name of Nathan's book again and to chat.


Mini-Reunion in New York City

Did you know that after Charlottesville and Richmond, the highest concentration of Tandem alumni can be found in the New York metropolitan area? It's true. In October, development director Laura Jackson took a trip to Manhattan. While there, she got together for brunch with a group of New York City alumni.

Thirteen alumni met at Pete's Tavern in downtown Manhattan. Laura brought old yearbooks and Patrick Dolan came with some photographs and his Tandem diploma. Alumni talked about what they are doing now and reminisced about their days at Tandem. Most of the attendees graduated in the early 80's and knew each other at Tandem.

Sherri Ely, Gareth Gaston, Alex Draper, Neal Epstein, Nathan Abse, Patrick Dolan, Chris Harned, Susan Gordon Akkad, Blake Shumpert, Lila Fenton, Sam Erickson, David Winner and Eleanor Bedford all attended.


Tribute to an old coach

On October 31, 1998, a small group of Tandem alumni gathered near the Tandem soccer field to pay tribute to late soccer coach Chris Vaughn. Tandem completed minor renovations to the field in the Fall and dedicated the improvements in honor of the past coach. A plaque was mounted near the field; former Athletic Director and current math guru Steve Ganong said a few words.

Among those present at the ceremony were Darshan Sergi, Clancy Donnelly, Aretha Williams, Dario Gimenez, Matt Walden, and Colin McElwain.

[ June 1998 Reunion ] [ Pg. 1 | Dear Alumni | Newsbriefs | Spotlight On ] [ Pg. 2 | Alumni Notes | Special Note for 75's ] [ Pg. 3 | Up on the Hill | Alumni Sightings | Alumni Council News | Members | Leaves on the Tree | How to Volunteer ] [ Home | Online Form | Contact ]

Alumni Council News

Minutes from all Alumni Council meetings are included in the newsletter to keep the alumni community informed about what their representative body is up to. Last December, a handful of Council members got together for our first winter meeting. Take a moment to look over the minutes below and please feel free to contact your Council representative or the Alumni Affairs Office if you have any questions or comments about Council business.


Awards

• In response to last year's decision to begin an endowment fund for student and faculty awards, we discussed the possibility of presenting awards this year. Though we are far from having the necessary funds to begin monetary awards, we agreed to present token awards this year so that a relationship may be established between alumni and the school.

• Criteria for both a student and faculty award include: service to Tandem above and beyond duties as either a student or a teacher, exceptional commitment to Tandem, outside volunteer work, and, in the case of the student, financial need.

• Deciding whether or not we could vote on award recipients sparked some debate. Though no current council members attended Tandem as a Friends school, as an extension of a current Friends school, we are obligated to make decisions by consensus. I spoke with Rosalyn Berne, Head of School. Rosalyn recognizes that none of us went to a Quaker school and for that reason we could arguably make decisions by voting for the next several years. However, if we are to present awards at school functions, as an extension of the school body, our decisions must be arrived at by consensus, especially, she stressed, in such important matters as the presentation of an award. She also touched on the value of consensus building as a path to truth.

• The issue of consensus is an extremely important one. I would be happy to speak to alumni/ae at greater length about this. I refer you to the Alumni Council Mission statement, which was crafted by Council members at last summer's meeting:

  The mission of the Tandem Alumni Council is to provide service to the Tandem Friends School community by continuously building and maintaining alumni involvement in the school through on-grounds service, fundraising, and annual student and faculty gifts. Council decisions are made, in the Quaker tradition, by consensus.

• For the student award, we plan to work with faculty to choose a student based on our specific criteria. The Tandem faculty is currently discussing possibilities for a student award to be given out late this May. For next year's faculty award, we will require some kind of nomination application or paragraph. A smaller sub-committee, empowered by the entire Council would then meet to choose from among the applications. This Spring, I brought the idea to the student senate. Student nominations and balloting took place in an open meeting. The senate then reconvened and came to speedy consensus about who the award recipient would be. We are making plans to present a faculty/staff award later this Spring.

Reunion 1998

• The main reunion event, Saturday night, is now officially the "anti-prom" by consensus of the council.

• Graduation weekend should be seniors" weekend and reunion should be separate. Reunion was moved forward one week to June 12-14.

• Council consensus is that fundraising is a reasonable part of the reunion weekend. We agreed on a registration form reminiscent of tax forms in which you can add on an additional dollar amount earmarked for fundraising.

• Dan, Mara, and Adrienne will act as the reunion "interest group." Feel free to join us or volunteer your fellow alumnus/a for service (Sue Herndon, Maragret McNett have also joined this committee).
• Members present also indicated interest in making an announcement about alumni giving a regular part of graduation.

  - Adrienne, your friendly Alumni Council Coordinator

[ June 1998 Reunion ] [ Pg. 1 | Dear Alumni | Newsbriefs | Spotlight On ] [ Pg. 2 | Alumni Notes | Special Note for 75's ] [ Pg. 3 | Up on the Hill | Alumni Sightings | Alumni Council News | Members | Leaves on the Tree | How to Volunteer ] [ Home | Online Form | Contact ]

[ June 1998 Reunion ] [ Pg. 1 | Dear Alumni | Newsbriefs | Spotlight On ] [ Pg. 2 | Alumni Notes | Special Note for 75's ] [ Pg. 3 | Up on the Hill | Alumni Sightings | Alumni Council News | Members | Leaves on the Tree | How to Volunteer ] [ Home | Online Form | Contact ]

$$ Leaves on the Tree $$

Matching Grant

In the last edition of In Tandem, we told you about a matching grant challenge presented to Tandem alumni. We are being asked to raise $20,000, which will be matched dollar for dollar. In addition, if 50% of alumni give a gift of ANY amount, we will receive an additional $10,000 towards the faculty endowment. [To contribute, try our online form.]

In case you have the fleeting thought that your gift might not be needed, read on. To date, only 11% of alumni have mailed a gift to Tandem this year. That is a percentage of the alumni for whom we have addresses on file; it does not include alumni among the missing! If we are to reach our goal, everyone who receives this newsletter should take it upon themselves to send in a donation of any amount. We will be going the extra mile at reunion this year to push towards this goal.

This year at graduation, a member of the alumni community will announce the total amount of money donated by alumni to the school this year. We hope to make this an annual presentation to the school and would like to announce that our matching goal of 50% has been met.


Phonathon

In the last couple years, you may have had the good fortune to speak with a member of the Tandem senior class during the annual Alumni Phonathon. This year, the phonathon will take place during the week of April 20. Unlike the informational phonathon conducted last year, this year we will be soliciting donations toward the matching grant. If you're busy in the evenings, send a matching grant donation with your reunion registration, and we will not call you during the Phonathon.

[ June 1998 Reunion ] [ Pg. 1 | Dear Alumni | Newsbriefs | Spotlight On ] [ Pg. 2 | Alumni Notes | Special Note for 75's ] [ Pg. 3 | Up on the Hill | Alumni Sightings | Alumni Council News | Members | Leaves on the Tree | How to Volunteer ] [ Home | Online Form | Contact ]

How can YOU volunteer to give back to Tandem?

• 1998 Reunion: Friday, June 12 - Sunday, June 14

• As always, all alumni are invited. The classes of 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, and 1993 are urged to attend in celebration of your 25th, 20th, 15th, 10th, or 5th year reunion.

• Volunteer for Saturday or Sunday to help set-up, clean-up, or keep game scores.

• Alumni are invited to participate in the weekly Speaker Series. Come to Tandem and speak about your college, job, hobby or other passion.

• Participate in Tandem's weekly volunteer program by having Tandem students at your job, driving, and working with students on current projects, etc.

• Teach or lead an Emphasis week activity. Emphasis (formerly: Mini-week) offers a unique opportunity for students to participate in activities or studies not usually offered during the school year.

• Sign-up to be your class representative and help us keep in touch!

• Join the Tandem Alumni Council and help make the alumni voice heard!

[ June 1998 Reunion ] [ Pg. 1 | Dear Alumni | Newsbriefs | Spotlight On ] [ Pg. 2 | Alumni Notes | Special Note for 75's ] [ Pg. 3 | Up on the Hill | Alumni Sightings | Alumni Council News | Members | Leaves on the Tree | How to Volunteer ] [ Home | Online Form | Contact ]

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