e Blue Doors The Nightingale-Bamford SchoolVolume 3Issue 2 · 2015-03-03 · ÷e Blue Doors The Nightingale-Bamford School Volume 3 Issue 2 Spring 2009. Contents 4 6 16 12 18 20 33

÷e Blue Doors TheNightingale-Bamford SchoolVolume 3Issue 2Spring 2009

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Building the Nightingale CommunityJoin us as we look behind the scenes at the Nightingale admissions process.one of the world’s most famous peaks.

On the RecordNightingale’s music faculty discuss their recent recordings and the early experiences that inspired them.

Home ImprovementJanine Jordan ’51 has turned a talent for design into a career improving people’s lives.

Levitt-ationLiz Levitt Hirsch ‘69 is building up communities around the country with a network of performing arts pavilions.

The Nightingale Graduate of 2017The Board of Trustees approve a vision statement for the future of Nightingale.

A Welcome ChangeNicole Kohn ‘78 has taken a roundabout path to get where she is today—and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Class Notes

HallwaysStories and photographs from around the schoolhouse

VoicesEnglish faculty member Julie Whitaker shares some insight on last fall’s attacks in Mumbai.

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EDITORIAL NOTE:In the fall 2008 issue of The Blue Doors, we published an article about Lizzie Gottlieb ’89 and her brother, Nicky. While Laura Kirk ’94, the author of the article, beautifully captured their story and treated them both with the utmost respect, a subtitle was attached during the editing process stating that Nicky suffered from Asperger Syndrome. As Ms. Kirk wrote in a letter disputing this subtitle,

“To say a person suffers from Asperger Syndrome is to reduce a neurological reality that defines much of a person’s identity to an illness that ought to be cured. This reductionist assumption is exactly the type of notion that Nicky, Lizzie’s documentary on Nicky, and my article seek to dispel.” Ms. Kirk is absolutely right that the subtitle is both misleading and offensive, and for that we sincerely apologize. We generally work closely with authors on any edits we make and give them approval of the final edits and layout. Because of shifts in our production schedule, Ms. Kirk was not able to review a final version of the article and layout, so she did not know of the change and was unable to correct it.

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2 THE BLUE DOORS

“We understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things… who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.”—President Barack Obama, Inaugural Address What is the work that we do here at Nightingale? We can simply say: “developing the minds and hearts of our students,” but there’s so much more to it. We shape leaders, encourage independent study, put on musicals and medieval festivals. We sponsor international trips for our students—even now we’re expanding this program as our World Religions class travels to India this spring. Nightingale has been undergoing a five-year review for the New York State Association of Independent Schools, and the report we’ve submitted weighs in at 45 pages—and that’s just about what’s new!

It takes a lot to cover the bases of everything we do at Nightingale, and there are plenty of intangibles that could never be described fully. But perhaps we can imagine our handiwork as readying our students for the rugged path that our new president described in his Inaugural address.

This issue features an article about the Nightingale-Bamford admissions process, and I’m quoted in the article as saying there are 44 different kinds of Nightingale girl. This is absolutely true, but if they have one thing in common, it is their potential to work hard and enjoy working hard. We challenge our students to follow any road that interests them, to tackle the big problems, to resist any temptation to give up. As I watch the Class of 2009 readying itself for college later this year, I think I am most proud of them for having learned these lessons, even as they’ve learned more clearly academic ones as well. Our faculty and staff have trained them well.

Now America begins the hard work of rebuilding itself. I don’t doubt that many Nightingale alumnae will be among the risk-takers, doers, and makers who will be rolling up their sleeves to help shape the next part of American history.

Dorothy A. HutchesonHead of School

Class I girls designed and made these puppets as part of their studio art class with Scott Meikle. Using wood dowels, air-dry clay, and old fabric and beads from around the city, the girls created their puppets and then spent a class period putting on plays in a special puppet theater.

4 THE BLUE DOORS

NightingaleCommunity

Building the

Admissions has changed a lot over the years, and as more people apply to independent schools like Nightingale, the process becomes increasingly complex. We thought now would be an appropriate time to pull back the curtain and see what goes on—and why—as we bring together the next generation of Nightingale girls.

by Karyn L. Feiden

It is impossible to describe the typical Nightingale girl. She could be shy or outgoing, literary or mathematical, mischievous or mannerly, athletic or a bit clumsy. In fact, every class is likely to include students with some combination of these characteristics.

“I rebel against the idea that there is one kind of Nightingale girl or one kind of Nightingale family, because that couldn’t be further from the truth,” says Head of School Dorothy A. Hutcheson. “I look at the next Kindergarten class and I think there are 44 different ways to be a Nightingale girl.”

In deciding who will enter the blue doors next fall, the school seeks students with a diverse set of talents, interests, personalities, and backgrounds who will create a challenging, vibrant community together. These girls’ interactions, along with the faculty who guide them, lie at the heart of the intellectual and emotional experience the school provides.

Any good baker knows the principle: the quality of every ingredient that gets folded into the mix has a bearing on the finished product. But no recipe exists for a multi-dimensional admissions process that is as much art as science. Open houses, school fairs, tours, and other outreach efforts acquaint interested parents with the school. Interviews, testing, on-site observation, and pre-school visits help paint the fullest possible portrait of applicants. And a six-person Admissions Office, working in tandem with a separate committee of faculty and administrators, gives Nightingale the utmost confidence in its decisions.

With over 500 applicants for the 2009–2010 Kindergarten class, the selection process is competitive and resource-intensive. But it is also transparent, carefully considered, and regularly reassessed, with the ultimate goal of finding girls who will thrive and grow in the Nightingale milieu. This is the story of how that is done.

THE BLUE DOORS 76 THE BLUE DOORS

GETTING AcquAINTED:

ThE TOuR AND INTERvIEw

Most families apply for admission when their daughters are ready to enter Kindergarten. Ninth grade is also a significant entry point into Nightingale—typically, about one-third of that class is new. Applications are accepted for all classes through the tenth (and occasionally eleventh) grade, with a deadline of December 15 for the next fall semester.

Once a family submits a completed application, a tour is scheduled. Parent volunteers shepherd families applying to Kindergarten, while students guide the older girls. Sonia Batten, whose daughter is in Nightingale’s sixth grade, is one of the tour guides. Ms. Batten offers parents both nuts-and-bolts information and an insider’s perspective as they walk through the schoolhouse. The sole agenda at this point is to give parents a fuller sense of the place. “They want to hear, parent to parent, what Nightingale is really about,” she says.

Generally, parents are interviewed for 30 to 45 minutes right after the tour. Director of Admissions Margaret Metz tries to set the tone for a relaxed meeting.

“My goal is to de-intensify the process. It is frenetic, it is

overwhelming, and families usually come in here as nervous as you can imagine. Our job is to warm up the family and have a flowing conversation.”

As she does, she tries to get a sense of how involved a parent is in their daughter’s daily life, how they spend time together, and what a parent does to encourage the child’s interests. “I like to hear them describe the child and see whether they feel at ease talking about her,” says Ms. Metz.

“When you are spending a lot of time together, that usually comes naturally.”

Questions about family routines and rituals, weekend activities, and cultural pursuits help Nightingale determine whether a structured approach to learning will be supported in the home. There are no right answers—indeed, red flags go up when parents seem too scripted, as if they have prepared rote responses to questions they have been warned to expect.

“Families get so nervous; they feel they have to change who they are and act in a way that pleases us,” senses Ms. Metz.

“We really try to encourage them to be themselves.”Nightingale looks for clues that point to parents who are

thoughtful and involved, yet confident enough to trust the school and stand back when their child struggles occasionally to meet demands. They also want people comfortable with a philosophy that honors cooperation and hard work. “If you sense in the interview that parents want their child to be the standout, to excel in everything, they may be disappointed here,” says Ms. Hutcheson. “We are going to talk about the standards of the group and how they treat one another as a prime value.”

The Admissions Office gains a richer understanding of a child when a family can see her for who she is—most likely clever and charming, occasionally naughty but more often nice, and inevitably imperfect. “We sometimes have parents who think their child is flying to the moon tomorrow. They talk about her in a way that isn’t real,” says Ms. Metz. When that glassy-eyed assessment carries over into a conversation about discipline—“we never have to discipline her”—it can become a barrier to candor.

The overarching goal of the interview is to identify families who support Nightingale’s commitment to developing the whole child as the school shapes good citizens who respect one another. “Our mission is very clear,” emphasizes Ms. Hutcheson. “We are trying to think about the personal and emotional development of a child at the same time we are thinking about her academic and intellectual development. That balance is alive and well here.”

by Karyn L. Feiden A diverse student population is not an amenity at Nightingale, but rather the cement that is essential to the school’s structural integrity.

“The number one goal of our office is to enroll girls from all walks of life,” declares Margaret Metz, director of admissions. Only by pulling in children of many nationalities, creeds, and colors; drawing together long-established New York families and recent immigrants; and blending the wealthy and the working class, can Nightingale truly reflect, and take full advantage of, this extraordinary hometown.

None of that is easy to do.In the old days, diversity at

independent schools was promoted as a form of beneficence bestowed on the needy by the privileged. “I’m old enough to remember when we thought about diversity as helping others, a form of noblesse oblige,” admits Dorothy A. Hutcheson, head of school. “Now we recognize that you can’t be an excellent school if you don’t have students from diverse backgrounds. You want to learn from people who are different from you.”

Steve Klinsky, a Nightingale trustee and parent, agrees and emphasizes the joyful spirit of a diverse environment. “I view Nightingale’s focus on diversity as a simple matter of fairness. A good education is the best road to a successful life, and it’s terrific that Nightingale can assemble highly qualified girls from all over the city to pursue this opportunity together.” Nightingale reaches out in many directions to find talent and potential, working closely with specialty programs that mentor children in underserved communities and introduce them to top-notch independent schools. Prep for Prep on Manhattan’s

Upper West Side, for example, enrolls 150 fifth-graders of color every year in a rigorous 14-month course that meets every Wednesday afternoon and all day on Saturday during the school year, and for two intensive seven-week sessions in the summer. Nightingale is committed to admitting three Prep for Prep graduates to the Middle School every year.

It has also carefully cultivated relationships with Kipp Academy, A Better Chance, De La Salle Academy, Albert G. Oliver, Teak Fellowship, and other programs with a similar focus. Those connections help Nightingale build a diverse ninth-grade class, with girls of color making up about half the 15 students who entered in 2008.

Diversifying the Kindergarten class has proven much more difficult.

“We have not really changed the dial on this over a ten-year period of significant recruiting in new markets and new neighborhoods, even though we have substantial financial aid dollars we are willing to invest,” admits Ms. Hutcheson with evident regret. “That is a great heartache for me.”

If the reasons were simple, simple solutions could probably be found, but a certain wariness of other cultures seems to be embedded deep within the human psyche. Along with reservations that may be rooted in subtle mistrust, many families are unfamiliar with

independent schools; others face economic pressures that narrow their horizons. And, on the most practical level, arranging transportation for young children from distant neighborhoods can be complex.

“No matter how nurturing and open we see ourselves, we are still a school in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world. We are still a very, very foreign place for many families,” says Ms. Hutcheson.

That reality feeds on itself, of course. “Families of color are very concerned about not being trailblazers. They do not want to be in an environment where their children do not see others who look like them,” says Wendy A. Van Amson, a Nightingale trustee and an African-American parent.

“The only way to fix that is to have demonstrable, viable diversity at school.”

Challenging one’s assumptions can help, believes Jacqueline Pelzer, who is executive director of Early Steps. Ms. Hutcheson serves as vice president of the Early Steps board, and Nightingale is one of the founding members of that program, which guides families of color all along the socioeconomic spectrum into Kindergarten and first grade at independent schools.

“Sometimes, the picture people have in their minds about who will be successful at a school isn’t broad enough to allow for varying life experiences and different family structures, like families living in other boroughs, grandparents raising children, and mommy-mommy families,” warns Pelzer. “Sometimes educators need to ask themselves, ‘Is there another lens I can use to see children who have a gleam in their eyes?’ That’s what we look for when we admit new students—but we may need some innovative ways to find it.”

Diversity at Nightingale

The Admissions Office gains a richer understanding of a child when a family can see her for who she is—most likely clever and charming, occasionally naughty but more often nice, and inevitably imperfect.

You want to learn

from people

who are different

from you.

THE BLUE DOORS 9

ObsERvING ThE chILDREN

To give every child the fairest possible shot at joining the Kindergarten class, Nightingale brings each one into the school and observes her in a small-group setting; the schedule is planned carefully so that most children are able to visit when they are approximately the same age.

At least three trained observers watch children participate in tasks and games that offer insight into their cognitive, verbal, number, and motor skills; their imagination; and their capacity to pay attention and process information. There is time for play, too, which reveals much about a child’s social skills and her capacity to engage with others.

The screening process then moves to the home turf of the pre-school, where the children should already be at ease. Nightingale draws its Kindergarten class from a pool of over 100 pre-schools in New York, although it is constantly expanding its recruitment efforts to involve more schools located in diverse neighborhoods. The visits add more texture to the picture of a child’s gifts and personality.

“We get a sense of her pluck and drive,” says Ms. Metz. “We see how she interacts with other students and with teachers. We learn something about her energy level and her ability to smile easily and make eye contact. All of these things are critical to a child’s approach to learning.”

Ms. Metz and Blanche Mansfield, head of lower school, have developed candid relationships with numerous early childhood directors over time, and rely heavily on their input at this stage of the assessment. (While there are no school visits for older girls, Nightingale admissions staff often have similar conversations with placement directors before a child is admitted to the Middle or Upper School.) Ms. Metz says,

“Good communication with those who know the family and the child best is critical for us. There needs to be a very open and honest dialogue.”

Lydia Spinelli, director of the Brick Church School, which is just down the block on East 92nd Street and runs programs for children ages three to five, understands that. Because she is so familiar with the culture of Nightingale and many other independent schools, Ms. Spinelli helps steer parents to places she considers an appropriate fit. She can also act as their advocate, especially if she feels strongly that Nightingale is overlooking an appropriate candidate.

But her influence does not extend to decision-making. “It is my job to help place my kids,” she says candidly. “I wouldn’t recommend a child to Nightingale who wouldn’t do well there, but I recommend more children than Nightingale can take.”

Is ThERE A bAck DOOR IN?

New York being New York, there will always be parents convinced they can pull the right strings to win the admissions prize. With more families staying in the city, and a sense of heightened competition in an increasingly global economy, the search for a back door sometimes becomes feverish, even foolish. A friend of a friend called Wendy Van Amson, a trustee and Nightingale parent, to ask for a letter of recommendation—never mind that Ms. Van Amson didn’t know the child, who was just three at the time, or that her parents had not yet even requested an application.

Dorothy Hutcheson also fields telephone calls regularly from parents who are already part of the Nightingale community and want to put in a good word for someone.

She doesn’t mind a bit. “I don’t have a hands-off policy. Good grief, if anyone wants to tell me that this is a great family we would love to have in the school, I am happy to know that,” she says. “I pass it right on to the Admissions Office and it becomes part of the folder. But it is in no way or shape a deciding factor.”

No one is blind to the sensitivities that may be involved, of course, and Ms. Hutcheson may get an advance alert to the more delicate admissions decisions. But the bottom line is that offers are ultimately made in the interests of bringing together the right group of children, not an influential group of parents.

Nightingale, unashamedly, does give families a leg up if they are already part of the school community. Because actively engaged families are so essential to the school’s culture, the siblings of current and past students and the children of alumnae are given admissions preference.

“We try to be as much a family school as we can, and these families are already invested here. They know what we stand for and they understand the values of the school,” explains Ms. Hutcheson. “If it is possible, we would like to admit siblings and legacies.”

8 THE BLUE DOORS

I look at the next Kindergarten class and I think there are 44 different ways to be a Nightingale girl.

Standardized Testing

Class IX Admissionsby Karyn L. FeidenWhile the admissions process in the Middle and Upper Schools is not significantly different from that in the Lower School, the older girls themselves play a much more central role. With an academic track record, experiences that demonstrate their drive and motivation, and the ability to articulate the challenges they have faced, older girls can be evaluated on actual accomplishments, rather than readiness and potential.

A one-on-one interview is conducted with these applicants (a separate conversation takes place with the parents). The interview gives Nightingale a strong sense of the girl’s interests and aspirations,

and lets her demonstrate how she handles herself in a new situation. The school looks for intellectual curiosity, self-motivation, and a history of challenges confronted and overcome. The willingness to take risks and make mistakes, a stick-to-it spirit, and disciplined study habits are also valued assets.

At the same time, a girl who can balance the drive to excel with the capacity to relax earns respect at Nightingale. “When girls are contending with social and academic pressures, they also have to be able to sit back and laugh and have fun,” says Margaret Metz, director of admissions. “And we want to know how she keeps all those balls in the air and still gets

to bed on time.”An essay, which is part of the

required Independent School Entrance Exam, gives added depth to the application file, as do teacher recommendations in math and English; school transcripts; and the ungraded, untimed placement work girls are asked to do. Together, they create a rich and nuanced portrait that supports Nightingale’s ability to make flexible admissions decisions. “If a girl’s test scores are high but her grades are low, that tells me she might not be pushing herself,” says Ms. Metz. “Some girls may test only in the middle of the road, but have great grades and recommendations. That is the child I will take a risk on.”

by Richard Alwyn Fisher Peel away a parent’s anxiety, the inappropriate use of tutors to prepare young children for a test, and the undue weight some schools give to a numerical score—and standardized tests just might have some value.

In an effort to bring coherence to the application process, members of the Independent School Admissions Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY) have agreed to draw from the same set of standardized tests. Nightingale requires the following:

• The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence measures a child’s verbal and performance capacities. Essentially an IQ test, it is required of all Kindergarten applicants.

• The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children assesses verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, processing speed, and working memory for Class II-IV applicants.

• The Independent School Entrance Exam measures both

capacity to learn and current skills in the verbal and quantitative realms. Girls applying to sixth through twelfth grade take this test.

Test scores are an important part of a student’s application file, but they are rarely dominant or decisive at Nightingale. “There is no doubt that testing has been useful to us. It tells you one part of the story,” says Margaret Metz, director of admissions. “But let’s not put too much weight on these tools. We have had many students who are not good test-takers but have gone on to do great things.”

The limit of the WPPSI, in particular, has been the subject of vigorous debate among ISAAGNY members.

“Testing young children is a tricky business. The results aren’t all that reliable,” says Barbara Novick, a child psychologist and testing expert in private practice. In a restless four-year-old, a test taken today could readily yield very different results than the same one taken tomorrow. And the incredibly

rapid neurological development that occurs among young children makes it almost impossible to know where they are on their growth curves, limiting the test’s prognostic value. That’s why Dr. Novick calls the WPPSI “a snapshot, rather than a map.”

Whatever its merits, just about everyone involved with independent schools agrees that the recent trend towards coaching very young children for the WPPSI is troublesome. Coaching not only skews test results, it may also steal a child’s passion for learning.

With concerns mounting, the independent schools in New York have begun talking together about assessment alternatives, including the possibility of substituting school readiness tests, which are designed to measure skills and knowledge rather than intelligence. Nightingale, too, is taking stock of its approach. Ms. Metz says, “We are constantly evaluating how we evaluate students and looking at the measures we use.”

10 THE BLUE DOORS THE BLUE DOORS 11

But a history with the school is not an admissions guarantee. “At the end of the day, it comes down to the right match for the child,” says Metz. And that’s what she emphasizes during the admissions interview, urging all parents to apply to more than one school, and telling them, “This is about your child. What might be right for your older daughter might not be right for your younger daughter. Please trust us on this front and let us give you the best advice possible.”

PORTRAIT Of A cLAss

As the season for interviews and pre-school visits winds down and each application file fills up, the strongest candidates for admissions emerge. Students must have the right combination of gifts to meet Nightingale’s challenges, but a dynamic class must also reflect the New York mosaic.

“First and foremost, we strive to have as diverse a class as possible. That is typically seen as an issue of color, but it is also learning style, temperament, geographic origin, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, et cetera,” says Ms. Metz. The class simply cannot include only white children, or wealthy ones, nor only the bold and boisterous.

In late December, about six weeks before other families receive word, Ms. Metz personally calls every sibling and legacy family to tell them whether their children have been

admitted. Some of the hardest parts of her job are the conversations with those she will disappoint—but the wisdom that guides the Admissions Office in its work must ultimately rule the day.

The Kindergarten students who are accepted early form a nucleus around which the rest of the class can be built, allowing final admissions decisions to be made with balance in mind. The dynamic is slightly different in the Middle and Upper School, where no goal is set for the number of admissions. There are typically 11 to 15 new ninth-graders, but the final count is based solely on the strength of the applicant pool.

After acceptances, wait-lists, and regrets are sent out on February 15, it is Nightingale’s turn to spend two anxious weeks waiting to learn who will sign on. A “revisit” day is scheduled so that families can tour the school again, sit in on classes, talk to teachers, and dig deeper before D-Day, noon on February 25, when all contracts must be returned. The class is fully booked by morning’s end.

And then, six intensive months after the admissions applications were sent out to prospective Kindergarten families, the work is done. Next year’s class is set. And when the blue doors open next September, 44 new girls will be poised to walk through them.

by Richard Alwyn Fisher “Education is the place where we can actually make a difference and get over some of the inequities that exist in our system,” says Dorothy A. Hutcheson, head of school.

Nightingale has the resources and commitment to make that happen: last year, more than 100 students received a total of $2.4 million in financial aid, up from $97,000 for 55 students three decades ago. For 2009–2010, the Board of Trustees has budgeted $3.1 million in anticipation of increased financial aid requests in the economic downturn.

“We want to serve the families that cannot afford an education for their child at our price,” says Marina Radovich, director of finance and a 30-year veteran at the school. “The admissions process here is ‘need blind.’ First, we accept students we feel can do the work, and then we make it possible for them to come.” A generous endowment makes that practical, the wisdom of a respectful financial aid office keeps the decision-making process fair, and a standardized application ensures that all families are judged on the same financial criteria.

Financial aid decisions are made at Nightingale, and most other independent schools, with the help of the Student Services for Financial Aid (SSS), a program administered by the National Association of Independent Schools. Parents complete a financial statement in which they provide detailed

information about their income, expenses, assets, and liabilities, and SSS supplies a dollar amount it thinks a family can afford to pay towards tuition.

The SSS figure makes no adjustment for regional differences in the cost of living, and Nightingale usually asks a family to pay less than what SSS has proposed, but often more than what the family initially thought it could. The school’s goal is to avoid pinching family budgets

—especially as economic situations have recently declined—while encouraging an appropriate investment in a child’s education.

“We can’t give 100% of need, but we’re very close to it,” says Ms. Radovich.

Nightingale is adamant that financial aid not be used to “buy”

students. “Sometimes, another school will give more aid to entice a family to come,” laments Margaret Metz, director of admissions. “When that happens, the integrity of the process is lost and the family’s decision may not be based on the best match for the child.”

Offering inducements that go beyond meeting financial needs raises tricky ethical issues, even when the earnest intention is to build a more diverse student body. Disclosure can help. “Schools should be upfront about aid that is not strictly based on need,” says Mark Mitchell, a vice president at the National Association of Independent Schools. “A strategic, comprehensive approach to attracting and enrolling a class is okay. Cutting special deals with parents is not.”

At Nightingale, Ms. Radovich is at the center, determined to make equitable decisions through an open process. While the school tries to eliminate cost barriers, accepted students are occasionally placed on a waiting list for aid. That can happen in a year in which a lot of qualified students with financial needs are accepted, or during an economic downturn, when families whose children are already enrolled seek support for the first time.

All of that means financial aid is much more than just a numbers game; it becomes an essential tool for building the right class.

Financial Aid

Education is the

place where we can

actually make a

difference and get

over some of the

inequities that exist

in our system.

THE BLUE DOORS 13

by Justin Warner

GREGORy hARRINGTON

(vIOLIN, Ms ORchEsTRA, us sTRING ENsEMbLE)

Gregory Harrington grew up in Dublin, Ireland, in a house full of music: his father, mother, and brother all played piano. But Harrington fell in love with his instrument of choice, the violin, all on his own. “When I was four years old, I was at the horse show in Dublin with Mom, and I heard a string quartet playing, and I was very drawn to the sound of the instrument,” he recalls. He turned to his mother, pointed to the violin, and said “I want to play that.”

Young Harrington started lessons right away and never looked back. As he got older, he became a fixture in festivals and concert venues in and around Dublin, but his major professional breakthrough came in 2000, with a performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall. He sent press releases to all the English papers, but not to the high-profile The Strad magazine, which terrified him. As it turned out, none of the newspapers showed up, but The Strad did—and gave him a rave. “Harrington performed with aching tenderness, a profound sense of melancholy touching every phrase,” said the review, launching him on an international career that has brought him to prestigious venues in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Portugal, Australia, and New Zealand, among others.

Harrington’s debut CD, Reflections, recorded in 2005, is a collection of songs that resonate with his musical and personal history. He says the album’s opener, Vittorio Monti’s

stately “Czardas,” is “the first that my mother heard me completely and utterly butcher.” On the other hand, the instantly recognizable “Sabre Dance” from Khachaturian’s ballet Gayanch represents a moment of inspiration; Harrington remembers being floored by virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin’s recording of the piece (a gift from Harrington’s father), and becoming aware of the instrument’s great potential.

Harrington’s own “aching tenderness and profound sense of melancholy” takes center stage in several plaintive selections. Not coincidentally, many were songs that his mother knew and loved, and they were chosen and recorded after she passed away. “I couldn’t verbalize a lot of things,” Harrington says, “and I just put everything [on the recording].” Many tracks harken longingly to his Irish childhood, including Phil Coulter’s elegiac Irish air “The Battle of Kinsale,” and an arrangement of the enduring “Danny Boy.” Other reflective moments include Fibich’s gentle “Poem” and the African-American spiritual “Deep River,” about the yearning for a promised land that’s just out of reach.

Several of the arrangements are by Harrington himself,

For most of the music faculty at Nightingale, teaching is just one facet of a successful and diverse musical career. Many perform as soloists and in jazz combos and chamber ensembles, several compose or arrange music, and some even find time to release albums. Below, we highlight three of Nightingale’s newer faculty members and their recent recordings.

On the Record

and he is pleased with the disc’s function as an artistic calling card. However, Harrington is perhaps more proud of the disc’s ability to attract listeners who aren’t classical music buffs. That’s partly a result of the programming, which mixes familiar tunes (“Danny Boy,” Gershwin’s “Summertime”) with ones that you may not realize you know (“Sabre Dance,” “Poem”) and songs that will be brand new to many listeners. He says that no matter how particular a musician’s tastes, a judicious sprinkling of familiar repertoire always helps bring in new audiences. “They need to feel some sort of trust. Because once you get them at a level of trust, they’re going to take that extra step and lean forward and say, ‘Okay, what else does he have to say?’” Listen to this touching valentine of a record, and you’ll probably ask the same thing.

Gregory Harrington’s Reflections is available on iTunes, or on CD through www.cdnow.com and www.gregoryharrington.com.

ROOsEvELT ANDRé cREDIT

(GOsPEL GIRLs)

That bass/baritone Roosevelt André Credit (known as “Mr. Roo” to his students) would eventually record a CD of spirituals may sound inevitable when you consider his background. “We prayed most of the day,” he says, and he’s not exaggerating: On Sundays, whether at his childhood home in California or his grandparents’ place in Texas, his whole extended family got up at 5:00 a.m. for a song-filled prayer meeting. “After that, you showered, dressed, and then you went to church,” says Credit. Later came traditional

Sunday dinner, a long, leisurely celebration frequently punctuated by more prayer and even more song.

It was pretty hard to keep young Roo’s vocal talent a secret in that environment, and he soon found himself being asked to “sing something from the hymnal” wherever a hymnal was available. Although Credit loved the songs, he found that he could do only so much with them on his own. Hymnal arrangements, he explains, are usually written for four choral parts, and extracting just one part as a solo doesn’t necessarily do them justice. As for published solo material, the pickings were frustratingly slim. “There is almost no music written for bass/baritone range,” he says, speaking not only of spirituals, but of pop standards and show tunes, as well.” ‘The Impossible Dream,’ ‘Old Man River’... those are great songs, but how many times can you sing those?”

The need to create his own repertoire led to his current career as not only a performer (with a résumé that includes Broadway, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Switzerland’s Verbier Music Festival), but also an arranger and publisher (under the name Yaweno Publishing). His recordings showcase his work in all three arenas. Following a debut CD of original tunes, Letting Go, Credit went back to his roots with Ol’ Time Religion, a new spin on the spirituals that anchored his musical upbringing. Selections include the title track (done as a jazz-inflected medley with “Nobody Knows De Trouble I Seen” and “By and By”), the humble “Fix Me, Jesus,” which Credit calls the “essence of how I feel,” and “Lucretia’s Prayer,” an original song written from the point of view of Credit’s sister, who ran a daycare center. The lyrics petition for grace and

Roosevelt André Credit, Deadra Hart, and Gregory Harrington stop for a photo before the Middle and Upper School Winter Concert on December 16, 2008.

12 THE BLUE DOORS

Making a record is like taking a picture of yourself at that moment.

14 THE BLUE DOORS

wisdom with Zen-like imagery: “Let the light you’ve given us grow and teach the world/Breathe new life and move on.”

First-time listeners may be surprised by the disc’s intimate sound: many tracks feature just Roo and pianist Dr. Thomas Schmidt, with occasional support from vocalists Ben Schumann, Peter Karl, and Sandra Billingslea. Billingslea also plays violin on Credit’s arrangement of the Hebrew prayer “Shalom Chaverim,” which was discovered online by an Australian film team and licensed for their forthcoming Holocaust documentary, Through Their Own Eyes.

Credit says the disc’s spare production faithfully re-creates the experience of seeing him in concert, and also lays bare the piano and vocal arrangements for those who might perform them themselves. He delights in watching other singers take on his arrangements and considers their enjoyment a crucial test of his own success. “I want to see the singers smiling; I want to see the piano player having fun with the rhythm, really digging into those chords,” he says. He also hopes Ol’ Time Religion will help keep spirituals alive and relevant for young people, and remind them of the pleasures of melodically driven popular music in today’s rhythm-dominated climate. “This music is old,” he says, “but it’s old for a reason. You take the old text and layer your own experience on top of that.” Audiences from all walks of life will find their own truth in Credit’s revitalized classics.

Roosevelt André Credit’s Ol’ Time Religion is available on iTunes, or on CD through www.cdbaby.com and www.rooseveltacredit.com. The sheet music is published by Laurendale Associates and distributed by Emerson Music (catalog #VS1020).

DEADRA hART

(GENERAL MusIc, ThEORy, vOIcE, PIANO)

Jazz vocalist Deadra Hart can’t remember a time when she wasn’t singing. Born in Germany to an American pianist and a Dutch ballet teacher, Hart was tutored in classical piano by her grandfather every summer in Holland. Her father, James, the pianist, was in high demand in the Los Angeles film and TV studio circuit because of his ability to jump effortlessly from one musical style to another.

It was also her father who threw her head-first into jazz at the age of 17, by audaciously booking them as a father-daughter jazz act in a new Cincinnati Italian restaurant. The problem? “At the time I knew two jazz tunes,” Hart explains. She and her father were having coffee at the restaurant and James spontaneously floated the idea to the manager, much to Deadra’s shock. Even more shockingly, the manager hired them on the spot for a five-night tryout: four hours per night, starting in exactly two weeks. Hart learned two tunes a day for the next 14 days to build a 30-song repertoire, which, as she tells it, was barely enough to fill the time.

But whatever she and her father did, it worked. On the second tryout night, the restaurant booked them for the rest of the year, kicking the high school senior into a relentless schedule: She went to school, stayed for musical theater rehearsals until 7:00 p.m., changed her clothes, then sang at the restaurant from 8:00 p.m. til midnight—and then went home and started her homework. But Hart had caught the jazz bug, and she was incredibly happy.

From then on, Hart was a jazz singer. She won a scholarship to study jazz at the University of North Texas and started performing in clubs, first in Dallas/Ft. Worth, then in Amsterdam while on the faculty of the American School at the Hague, and later New York City, with a parenthetical sojourn in Ecuador teaching and singing in a Latin combo. She and her father play clubs together to this day, often joined by her husband, Fred Kennedy, on drums.

Hart recorded her debut CD, aptly titled Wherever I Go, during her post-college years in Amsterdam. She wrote the title track as a bittersweet long-distance love ballad for her future husband, from whom she was separated by an ocean. For the rest of the album, she arranged her favorite standards to support her cool, honey-smooth delivery. Tracks include

“Whisper Not,” “Give Me the Simple Life,” and “If I Should Lose You,” all recorded by one of Hart’s major influences, Ella Fitzgerald.

In the years following Wherever I Go, Hart became a devoted student of Fitzgerald’s signature scat improvisation, which influenced her interest in using the human voice as an ensemble instrument. Rather than simply sing scat syllables on the melody line, Hart improvises freely on chords the way Charlie Parker did on saxophone. The theoretical rules are the same, Hart says, but because “singers don’t have buttons to push down,” it can seem abstract and disorienting. With a solid grounding in jazz theory and an attentive ear, however, a singer learns to hear the same chords that a pianist can see on the keyboard, and to play around within that framework.

Hart’s as-yet-untitled new CD, currently in production, takes scat a step further: it consists entirely of songs featuring vocals but no words, including both originals and scat versions of popular standards. Hart’s aim is to use her voice as just one of several lead instruments. “I’m hardly ever singing by myself,” she says. The music will also be shaded by interlocking rhythms and unusual time signatures that have spilled over from her experiences singing Latin music in Ecuador.

Although the new CD will reflect her current interests, Hart acknowledges that her career and the disc won’t be in sync for long. “Making a record is like taking a picture of yourself at that moment,” she says. “You let it go.” Audiences, however, will want to keep these pictures of a unique, emerging artist staking out her territory.

Deadra Hart’s Wherever I Go is available on CD at www.cdbaby.com. For more information about her next CD, visit www.deadrahart.com.

String teacher Gregory Harrington joins the Upper School Chorus, directed by Courtney Birch, as they perform “Ani Ma’amin,” a traditional Jewish song, at the Middle and Upper School Winter Concert on December 16, 2008.

I want to see the singers smiling; I want to see the piano player having fun with the rhythm, really digging into those chords.

THE BLUE DOORS 1716 THE BLUE DOORS

by Karyn L. Feiden

An eye for beauty, a passion for design, and great interest in the challenges of living with disability have helped to define Janine Jordan’s career.

As a kitchen and bath designer, as well as an interior designer, her goal is to create home environments that are as lovely to look at as they are practical to live in. Janine is especially fluent in the language of people with low vision and mobility issues.

Form follows function in her world, but it is form with panache. Painting stainless steel grab bars red adds cheer to a bathroom—but their bright color also protects a man with low vision as he steps out of a steamy shower. Widening the aisles between the stove and a food prep island allows a woman in a wheelchair to live more independently, while creating a welcoming space where she can mingle with able-bodied visitors.

Janine developed her aesthetic skills at the foot of a master—her mother, the renowned magazine illustrator and portrait artist Barbara Schwinn Jordan. As a teenager, Janine accompanied her to the antique shops and fabric stores of Manhattan, and soaked in her art lectures in the museums of London and the chateaux of France. “My mother literally trained my eye to see shapes, forms, and colors,” says Janine.

“She developed in me a very keen sense of my surroundings.”After graduating from college, Janine began to mix an

entrepreneurial spirit with an artistic sensibility. For three decades, she lived in Chappaqua, New York, where she raised four children (who have given her five grandchildren),

and established a design career, working with architects, builders, suppliers, and homeowners. In 1990, after a move to North Carolina, she registered her business as JJ Interiors.

Perhaps it was serendipity, or perhaps a stronger spiritual force was at play, as Janine suspects, but one rainy night in Raleigh she heard a lecture by a man named Ron Mace. Mace, a trained architect who was stricken with polio at the age of nine, was founder of the Center for Universal Design, which promotes the idea that the built environment should be as accessible as possible to everyone, regardless of their physical limitations.

Inspired by his insights, Janine began learning more about design challenges like building a bathroom for someone who needs a walker, or renovating a room so that a blind person can easily navigate through it. Home design is always a partnership between client and professional, but trust and empathy are never more important than when the conversation has to deal with hard questions like: Will your physical limitations worsen? How bad will your vision become?

Janine begins her design process by asking clients to fill out detailed questionnaires about their physical strength, grip, reach, and balance. Where possible, she’ll also contact that person’s physical therapist or doctor to collect information about safety concerns, lighting issues, and similar topics. Building on that knowledge, she might suggest lowering the height of a cabinet, raising a toilet seat, installing non-slip flooring, creating special storage for personal care items or medical equipment, positioning faucets at a different angle, or relocating appliance controls.

Always, her goal is to help her clients live as fully as

possible. “There is a kind of judgment people who are hale and hearty may make about those who are not, that all they need is something institutional-looking,” says Janine. She thinks the truth is quite the contrary. “I feel that they should have the most compelling and beautiful and warm place to live, perhaps more so than others who are able to leave their homes easily every day.”

To learn more about accessible design, there is no better resource than the Center for Universal Design in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its Web site—www.design.ncsu.edu/cud— offers a wide range of resources, including publications, model design plans, a description of its services, and links to other organizations with expertise in the field.

ImprovementHome

Janine Jordan ’51 has turned a talent for design into a career improving people’s lives.

One of Ms. Jordan’s client homes before (top) and after (bottom). The aesthetic has certainly improved, but so has the accessibility.

THE BLUE DOORS 1918 THE BLUE DOORS

by Joanne Fowler P’20

As a boy growing up in a struggling immigrant family in Brooklyn in the early 1900s, Mortimer Levitt never had spare money for entertainment. One of the few thrills in his childhood was the occasional trips to Coney Island’s Luna Park, where he’d stand outside the gates and listen for free to pop music concerts. “It meant a lot to my father,” recalls his daughter, Liz Levitt Hirsch

‘69. “Music was a source of joy in a bleak childhood.”Mortimer Levitt never forgot those precious childhood

memories when he went on to build a fortune as founder of Custom Shop Shirtmakers, a nationwide chain specializing in made-to-measure shirts. Through a sizable contribution, Levitt helped build a band shell in Westport, Connecticut, in 1973 so residents would have a community stage and a place to gather.

After Levitt sold his business in 1997 at the age of 90, he approached his daughter and asked for her help in realizing his dream of building pavilions throughout the nation. “He knew the project would be a natural fit for me,” she recalls. In 2001, Levitt Hirsch began meeting with community and political leaders to introduce the Levitt Pavilion program. The Mortimer Levitt Foundation provides a million dollar matching grant for capital improvements and programmatic support for a new Levitt Pavilion.

To receive funding, communities are asked to follow three fundamental parameters: Each city provides a parcel of attractive land in a diverse downtown neighborhood, and then must designate 50 nights of free performances each year. Local community members form a non-profit organization, The

Hispanic, and Asian communities nearby. “There’s a similar chemistry that happens at all the Levitt pavilions,” says Levitt Hirsch. “Children run up to the stages, conga lines form, people dance, and neighbors congregate.”

The Mortimer Levitt Foundation launched its most recent pavilion, in Arlington, Texas, last fall. Located halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, the Pavilion hosted an array of performances its first season, from rock ‘n roll bands to Mexican singers to family-friendly groups. “The place was absolutely jam-packed,” says Arlington mayor Robert Cluck.

“I have never had so many compliments—even from my mother. The pavilion has done a phenomenal job for our downtown. We have never had an effort like this.” Throughout the 18 months of negotiations with Arlington, Levitt Hirsch flew out to Texas four times, keeping a close eye on developments.

“Liz is very focused,” says Mayor Cluck. “She is so focused on the success of Levitt because it honors her family.”

When not on the road, Levitt Hirsch frequently gets together with other Nightingale alumnae in Los Angeles, many of whom

Friends, that raises the matching funds and takes responsibility for programming the annual concerts. Under Levitt Hirsch’s leadership, four more band shells have been built across the country: one Pavilion each in the cities of Los Angeles and Pasadena, California; Memphis, Tennessee; and Arlington, Texas.

Levitt Hirsch’s interest in the arts took root in childhood. After graduating from Nightingale, she headed west to study European history and music history at Scripps College in Claremont, California, and never came back. “I fell in love with the sunshine and the beach and the open roads,” says Levitt Hirsch from her home in Beverly Hills. “I love it here. Every January we have a few days in the 80s and 90s and I am in heaven.” After graduation, she worked for various record labels in artist relations. In the early 1980s she married Howard Hirsch, a renowned hotel designer, and began her career in charity and volunteer work, serving on numerous non-profit boards and actively fund-raising for various Los Angeles-based charities. She was well prepared, then, when her father approached her with his plan.

Bill Bogaard, mayor of Pasadena, was immediately intrigued when he first heard about the Levitt Pavilion proposal. “I saw right away that this was worthwhile,” says Bogaard. “Liz has been such an enthusiastic supporter of Pasadena and so energetic in pursuing this.” After two years of negotiations, the city launched its first season of free concerts in 2003 after restoring a band shell that had fallen into great disrepair. Now, in its sixth year as a Levitt Pavilion, the band shell is home to 50 performances a year. Performances attract around 1,000 people each evening, often from the African-American,

are leaders in the community. “They are all remarkable women and the ones I know are all making a difference,” says Levitt Hirsch, who has fond memories of Nightingale and is serving as the Class of 1969’s agent for their 40th reunion this year.

Realizing her father’s vision is a full-time job for Levitt Hirsch. In addition to constant e-mails and phone calls regarding existing Pavilions, she frequently flies around the country meeting with community leaders of prospective cities interested in creating a Levitt Pavilion in their community. She’s also in the process of launching a new national non-profit called Levitt Pavilions Free Music Across America, which will raise funds and provide technical support for all the Pavilions around the country. “This mission is always with me,” says Hirsch. “It’s very gratifying because I believe we are making the world a better place. I see how much happiness and joy a Levitt Pavilion brings. It genuinely reflects who I am.”

To learn more about the Levitt Pavilions, please visit www.levittpavilions.org.

Levitt-ationLiz Levitt Hirsch ’69 is building up communities around the country with a network of performing arts pavilions.

Clockwise from top: Liz Levitt Hirsch ’69 and Levitt Shell Executive Director Anne Pitts in front of the Levitt Shell in Memphis, Pasadena board member Nic Fetter and Ms. Levitt Hirsch in Pasadena,

and Ms. Levitt Hirsch with an award from the mayor at the MacArthur Park pavilion.

THE BLUE DOORS 2120 THE BLUE DOORS

by Jeff Shreve

Nicole Kohn embraces change. “I am not afraid to challenge myself in new ways. I think the fact that I enjoy learning new things and that I am open to radical change is a plus. Many people tend to have extremely narrow vision, narrow focus, and fixed ideas about what they are actually capable of.” In the midst of a journey through several careers and a handful of businesses, Ms. Kohn has held fast to that guiding principle.

From Nightingale, Ms. Kohn traveled to California to attend Scripps College. She progressed quickly at Scripps, studying almost exclusively in the graduate department in her final year, and gained her BFA in 1983. She became aware of her growing affinity for design while at Scripps, and followed that love to the University of Colorado, Denver, to work toward her Master of Architecture. During her time there, she was privileged enough to travel to London and work with Pritzker Prize-winning architects Lord Richard Rogers and Zaha Hadid. Ms. Kohn received her master’s degree in 1989 and worked as an architect until 1992, when she made the first in a series of decisions that would come to define her uniquely ambitious path.

With fellow Nightingale alumna Cynthia Volk ’78, she founded The Canterbury Group, a consulting firm. As students at Nightingale, Nicole and Cynthia had served as president and vice president of Canterbury House, and hoped the reference to their fondly recollected school years would imbue their venture with a bit of good fortune. “We had absolutely

In the midst of this whirlwind of professional development, Nicole (an avid dog lover) bought a beautiful Doberman Pinscher, which she named Athena. Shortly after, while skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho, Nicole met—and quickly fell for—Peter Nyman, and the three of them eventually settled down in Sun Valley. Nicole continued to work in a variety of positions, gathering additional business experience, but in 2003, combining her twin passions for design and dogs, Nicole decided to start another business, this time with Peter as her partner and Athena as her inspiration.

Nicole and Peter began designing luxury accessories for dogs of all shapes and sizes under two deluxe brands: Isabella Cane (www.isabellacane.com) and Sun Valley Dog (www.sunvalleydog.com). With both wholesale and direct online sale divisions, Nicole applied the lessons learned from her corporate positions to create a global company from the cozy confines of Sun Valley. Unfortunately, this success was tempered by a heartbreaking loss—Athena passed away in 2005, one month before Hurricane Katrina.

no idea what we were doing, but we liked the idea of having our own business, so we took the step anyway!” Nicole writes with her characteristic forthrightness. “It was not about success or failure—it was about being willing to experiment.”

Following up on the lessons learned with The Canterbury Group, Nicole decided to start up a solo venture, which she dubbed NCK. With NCK, Nicole put her design skills back to work, designing promotional items for Sony, Pepsi, and FAO Schwarz, among others. She collaborated with a fellow Nightingale alumna yet again, recruiting Julie Metz ’77 to design NCK’s logo.

Following the tragic events of Katrina, Nicole, through her service on the board of the local animal shelter, became aware of the plight of a number of orphaned dogs that had been rescued and transported from the Gulf Coast to Sun Valley. Nicole and Peter came to the rescue, adopting a black Labrador mix named Creole, and they’ve been happily living together ever since.

Today, Nicole and Peter share their home with Creole, Hoss (a feisty Chihuahua), and Lily (a German short-haired pointer). Nicole points out, “Technology enables [us] to live in a very remote location yet have global reach for the company, to ski every day all winter, while creating and growing a world-class business.” With upcoming business trips planned to New York, Paris, and Stockholm, Nicole’s already ascendant journey is far from over, and her fearlessness is as strong as ever. “You have to have the ability to know you might be wrong, and you have to use that to find an even better answer. You cannot be afraid of failure, because everyone fails at some point. Life is a journey, an adventure, and everything changes constantly.”

ChangeA Welcome

Nicole Kohn ’78 has taken a roundabout path to get where she is today—and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

You cannot be afraid of failure, because everyone fails at some point. Life is a journey, an adventure, and everything changes constantly.

Nicole Kohn ’78 with Athena, her beloved Doberman and the inspiration for her most recent venture.

THE BLUE DOORS 23

Hal

lway

s

new rooftop playground

In November, after many months of anticipation, Lower School students were thrilled to try out their brand-new rooftop playground, complete with grass turf (seen above). Many thanks to the parents of the Class of 2017 and the committed leadership donors who made this play area possible! “The Lower School children and faculty are thrilled with our rooftop playground designed to build upper body strength,” says Head of Lower School Blanche Mansfield. “They have fun playing games, using the equipment, and challenging themselves.” It is wonderful to know that there is great outdoor space on school property for our littlest Nighthawks to enjoy some fresh air.

LEADERshIP DONORs

Marcia and Gregory AbbottClarissa and Edgar BronfmanMary Beth and Stephen DanielButtons and John GoodrichRobert JaffeCynthia and Dan LufkinCaroline and Jonathan SackLaura and Harry SlatkinNazanin and Roald SmeetsEve Chilton WeinsteinHarvey Weinstein

Lydia Jordan ’12 starred as Anne in the fall drama production of The Diary of Anne frank. Read more about Lydia on page 26.

cLAss Of 2017 DONORs

Tizzy and Thurstan BannisterRafael Bejarano and Leslie Cecile BenningLap Wai Chan and Helen SongBettina Shapiro Cisneros ‘82 and William CisnerosCynthia Coudert and Brian E. MorrisLinda and Curtis FieldMichael G. Fisch and Laura Roberson FischMichael D. Fricklas and Donna J. AstionJennifer and William GeddesKaren and Said HaidarJohn W. Heilshorn and Susan M. WallaceJohanna and Andrew HerwitzJohn P. Irwin and Harriet J. WhitingAlison and Robert LeedsBeaumont and Ben LettWilliam D. McCombe and Antonia PaternoEdward Meertins-George and Adele GrantCaroline and Jeremiah MilbankAnn-Marie and Blake MyersRosalind and Toby MyersonWilliam J. Neary and Mihoko NagasuDina Schefler Nemeth ‘81 and Robert NemethRika OkamotoMonique and Laurence PettitElizabeth and Clifford PressPaul F. Riska and Sloan SchicklerVictoria and H. Jonathan RotenstreichEllen Lasch-Sadé and Alexander SadéLynn and Kenneth SellinCatherine Baxter Sidamon-Eristoff ‘82 and Andrew Sidamon-EristoffLawrence Spera and Mieko WilloughbyC. Erec Stebbins and F. Nina PapavasiliouJodi and Ross SutherlandCaroline and B. Robert WilliamsonAlison Griscom Wilson ‘84 and Henry WilsonJohn K. Winkler and Laura YerkovichGlenn P. Wittpenn and Mary Anne Callahan

24 THE BLUE DOORS THE BLUE DOORS 25

States offers, the variety of people, religions, and opportunities. With her citizenship, she says, she feels like she has taken “a step up in my life.” It wasn’t an easy road. After leaving war-torn Croatia in 1992, Ms. Luziac moved with her family to Germany. Seven years later, they made their way to New York, where they lived for a time with Ms. Luziac’s uncle and frequently saw her brother and a sister who had come to the United States as teenagers. But Ms. Luziac still felt a major pull back to Croatia and to her friends and parents, who still live there. She and her husband are determined to keep their Croatian ties strong, and make a point of visiting every summer and talking with her parents on the phone every weekend. Besides, her father reminds her when she starts to feel homesick, “All I need is eight hours. My father tells me, ‘Eight hours and you are here.’ I have to remember that.”

“Nightingale has been so good to me. I love to tell this story,” Marina says with a smile as she launches into the tale of her journey to citizenship and the halls of Nightingale. She came to New York at 10 years old, after she and her family had left their home in Dhaka, Bangladesh and traveled extensively around Asia. She enrolled in a public school in Queens and she, her parents, and her sister moved in with relatives already living there. Marina says her family was motivated to come to the U.S. by the opportunity for a better life and education. By fifth grade, Marina was involved in the Prep For Prep program, which provides guidance for public school students in New York who hope to matriculate at the prestigious college preparatory schools that dot both the city and surrounding New England towns. When she visited Nightingale, Marina knew this was the community she had been seeking. She now credits the school with easing her transition into American life.

Last year, Marina’s parents decided that they and their daughters would apply for citizenship. Much of their extended family had moved to the U.S. and it was now home, though for Marina, she says she is still most comfortable on a plane, hovering in the space between her lives here and in Bangladesh. When discussing her recent citizenship, the memory that has made the deepest impression upon Marina was sitting in a waiting room while her parents took their citizenship tests (as she was under eighteen years old, she wasn’t required to do so) and looking around at the other waiting children. There was a boy reading the Koran sitting next to another boy playing his Gameboy. The paradox struck Marina, and she excitedly began to take notes on the scene playing out around her. Later, she turned these notes into an essay that she submitted to a contest held by the American Civil Liberties Union. Months later, while she was abroad, her mother called to tell her that she’d won.

When she tries to describe how becoming a citizen feels, Marina has trouble verbalizing her emotions. “It’s hard to really say…” she trails off. But she is steadfast when it comes to expressing her attachment to Nightingale: “Everyone here is so involved; it is such a strong community. I’m excited to go to college, but I’ll miss Nightingale; it’s hard to believe it’s almost over.” Ms. Luziac echoes this sentiment. “It’s such a nice community here; we all celebrate holidays together, everyone has been so kind.” She smiles. “I have two sons. These girls are like my girls.” —by Alissa Kinney

nightingale’s new citizens

For Kornelia Luziac, it wasn’t an easy decision to make; but after years of telling her husband that she wasn’t ready, she finally realized that she wanted to begin the process of applying for U.S. citizenship. Marina Reza ‘09’s decision was somewhat easier since, at seventeen years old, her parents had determined that they wanted the entire family to become citizens together. Both women, now united by the common bond of citizenship, are also unified in their appreciation for Nightingale, a place that helped each feel New York had become home.

Kornelia’s friend Violet is singing her virtues to me when she learns that I am interviewing Ms. Luziac in the Student Center for this article:

“She’s a wonderful young lady. She helps everyone.” Ms. Luziac smiles modestly and pats her friend’s hand. “She is my best friend here… She helped me in the beginning a lot, especially to learn English.” Ms. Luziac looks thoughtful when I ask her about her journey from her home in Croatia to the United States, and then here, to Nightingale. Marina Radovich, director of finance, interviewed her for a job that was supposed to last just the summer. By September, she was offered a full-time job in the kitchen, and after a couple of years, stepped into the role she is now known for at Nightingale: a strong maternal force behind the blue doors, ushering girls to class, helping out around the building whenever she is needed (which is often), smiling warmly to visitors as they approach the front desk.

Ms. Luziac can now say that she is happy with her American life—she loves the choices the United

Every autumn, thousands descend on New York for the annual marathon, watches set and laces tied. Millions more watch from the sidelines, encouraging their runners with homemade signs held proudly overhead. This year, the race was held on Sunday, November 2, 2008, and some of Nightingale’s own were amongst the crowds, both to run and to cheer. Head of School Dorothy Hutcheson, Director of Institutional Advancement Sue Mathews, Academic Technology Coordinator Erin Mumford, and Associate Director of College Advising Damaris Wollenburg ‘97 braved the 26.2 mile-course, supported by various friends from Nightingale; all finished the race and made it to the schoolhouse the next day bright and early. It was the first marathon for Ms. Hutcheson, Ms. Mumford, and Ms. Wollenburg, while Ms. Mathews completed her forty-first marathon! Ms. Wollenburg had the additional privilege of running as a member of the local elite women’s group and finished with a time of three hours and 30 minutes! Congratulations to our Nightingale runners, and many thanks to all those who came out to support their efforts!

nyc marathon

The new citizens behind the blue doors: Marina Reza ’09 (left) and kornelia Luziac.

Lower school teachers Rebekah Zuercher and claire Anderson ’95 (below) cheered on our Nightingale runners. Ms. hutcheson is pictured at the end of the race.

Everyone here is so involved; it is such a strong community.

Planned giving is a terrific way to demonstrate

your commitment to women’s education and ensure

the long-term health of the Nightingale-Bamford

School. Planned gifts include bequests,

contributions to the pooled income fund, life

income trusts and arrangements, and other

deferred giving arrangements.

In 1989, we founded the Luscinia Society to

recognize the generosity of alumnae, parents,

and friends who have established planned gifts

with Nightingale. A bequest of any size qualifies a

donor for membership in the Luscinia Society.

If you would like to arrange a planned gift with

Nightingale, please call Sue Mathews, director of

institutional advancement, at (212) 933-6505

or e-mail her at [email protected].

The Luscinia Society

ms. hutcheson chosen for

nais board

Nightingale’s own Ms. Hutcheson, together with a select group of heads of schools from across the country, will serve on the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Board of Trustees. NAIS is a representative organization for approximately 1,300 independent schools across the country, promoting their interests; pursuit of providing an innovative education to all children they serve; and right to self-determination, free of governmental control. As part of the board, Ms. Hutcheson will act as a representative of NAIS and help to guide the organization towards future initiatives and directions.

Ms. Hutcheson will be formally elected to the board in February 2009 at the NAIS annual conference in Chicago.

26 THE BLUE DOORS THE BLUE DOORS 27

dailycandy connection

DailyCandy is like the older sister you always wished you’d had growing up: impeccably styled in that not-trying-too-hard way; a ringleader who planned legendary nights out with her friends; always in the know about new music, new trends, new designers. DailyCandy is similarly cool and effortless, but better—instead of ignoring you like that imagined older sister likely would’ve, it is always, unconditionally there for you. Not surprisingly, two members of DailyCandy’s masthead have ties to Nightingale: Jane Hegleman ’98 is an account executive in New York, while Christina Ohly Evans (mother of Katherine ’21) heads up the newest branch of the empire: DailyCandy Kids in New York.

Sign up for their services and you will receive an e-mail each morning aimed at keeping you in the loop about all things stylish. Flooding your inbox will be suggestions and tips pertinent to wherever you may live (special editions exist for nearly a dozen major U.S. cities and London), in addition to insider info regarding sales, coupons, and other money-saving goodies. The digital Bible of fashionistas everywhere, DailyCandy was called one of “the year’s best fashion sites” upon its founding in 2000 by The New York Times, recently made headlines after being sold to Comcast for $125 million, and currently boasts over 2.5 million subscribers.

“I love writing a weekly column where I get to speak about some of the city’s best products and local activities for kids… and I try to feature many women/mom-owned businesses,” says Evans.

“My ‘job’ is extremely flexible—I work from home, when I am not visiting stores or meeting with publicists—and my kids enjoy being testers for all kinds of cool things that stack up around my desk.”

c.a.f.e. hosts keith boykin

Kicking off the 2008–2009 school year, the students and parents of C.A.F.E. hosted an evening lecture and reception with noted author and commentator Keith Boykin on September 17, 2008. After remarks from C.A.F.E. co-chair Jennifer Rivera ’09 and former C.A.F.E. head Sage Garner ’04, Mr. Boykin discussed how race and gender played into the presidential election. Text and video of these remarks can be found by logging into the Nightingale Web site at www.nightingale.org.

upper school welcomes

new head

Nightingale hosted a welcome reception for our new head of Upper School, Paul Burke, on September 16, 2008. Mr. Burke is pictured below with his parents, Ms. Hutcheson, and his wife, Christine. Mr. Burke came to us most recently from Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn.

feig lecture

On April 24, 2009, Nightingale will host its annual Feig Lecture. This year’s speaker is Dr. Sol Messinger, one of the passengers on the St. Louis, a liner that left German shores in 1939 in an attempt to transport its primarily Jewish passengers to the United States or Cuba, away from the terror of Hitler’s Third Reich. In an historically infamous act of indifference, both countries turned the St. Louis away, and the ship was forced to sail back to Europe. All members of the Nightingale community are invited to join us on April 24, when Dr. Messinger will share his story.

The Feig Lecture series, begun in 2000, is dedicated to the memory of former Nightingale teacher Werner Feig, who escaped Nazi Germany as a child.

Authors’ Nightat the Nightingale-Bamford School Book Fair

April 27, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.www.nightingale.org/events

lydia jordan in doubt

Class IX’s Lydia Jordan plays the role of Alice in the recently released Doubt, written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, and based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. With Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams, the film has received glowing reviews, been nominated in major award categories for both Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice Awards, and was the National Board of Review winner for Best Ensemble and Breakthrough Performance of An Actress by Viola Davis.

Jordan first broke into acting when she was asked to appear on Disney’s Out of the Box, on which her brother had a regular role. From that point on, she was bitten by the acting bug, perhaps unsurprisingly, as her parents are both former actors who met on a film set. She soon signed with an agency and has since appeared in feature films (Gods and Generals, Into the Fire, Pistol Whipped) and television (Hope and Faith, Monk, Law and Order: CI, Kidnapped, and Gossip Girl). Jordan most recently starred (and received much acclaim of her own) in Nightingale’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank in the lead role of Anne. Says Jordan, “I really love acting, and I hope I can continue doing it for a long time.”

28 THE BLUE DOORS THE BLUE DOORS 29

traci yokoyama:

taiko drummer

Nightingale math teacher Traci Yokoyama’s modesty is matched only by her talent. Most of us behind the blue doors did not realize she was a highly gifted taiko drummer (and a member of the first taiko group on the East Coast, located here in New York) until one of her colleagues here spotted her on David Letterman. Her group, Soh Daiko, just happened to be backing up Grammy-award winner Kanye West as he performed his single, “Love Lockdown.”

Taiko drumming, an ancient folk art originating in Japan, involves intense choreography (which has led to a foot injury that Yokoyama is currently nursing) and other instruments, such as brass bells and bamboo flutes. Soh Daiko is considered among the best taiko ensembles in the United States, and has been lauded by The New York Times and The San Francisco Chronicle, among others.

Yokoyama says she had always been intrigued by the drummers who played at the Buddhist temple she attended while growing up in California. However, she didn’t start drumming until she moved to New York and looked up Soh Daiko. In order to join their ranks, Yokoyama attended a workshop that measures applicants’ potential and interest. After a three-month probationary period, the group votes possible members in unanimously—but the try-out isn’t over yet. For another three months, Yokoyama and others played with the group until a second unanimous vote, which determines permanent membership.

Three years later, she is still drumming, and happily so—“It is my life outside of school,” she says. Friends and family know now that she is unavailable on Thursday evenings (group practice), Saturdays (group practice), and other various times due to performances (the Late Show with David Letterman show, public workshops held by the New York

Buddhist Church, and stints at the New York Botanical Garden are examples) and the time she carves out for her own, solo practices. This, she says, is crucial:

“We are expected to watch, learn, and practice at home. A lot of groups have a teacher that leads them, but that isn’t the case with [Soh Daiko], so it’s important for us to practice on our own and be prepared.” Though Yokoyama acknowledges the limitations it places on her free time, she is quick to point out that, for her, that isn’t a problem.

“It’s a great thing to have in my life.”

fall sports wrap-up

From Jenny Smith, director of athletics:

5/6 Volleyball played beyond their years this season as they overhand served and, on several occasions, had two or more passes on their side of the net. What a team 5/6 Soccer had this year! The team was not only undefeated, they scored at least six goals in each game—this will be a group of athletes to watch.

More than 30 students played on the 7/8 soccer team this season, and demonstrated excellent character—even when they were behind, they directed their energies towards positive outcomes. The Nighthawks played in—and WON—the first annual Middle School Tournament.

At the start of the season, the Middle School B Volleyball team played scared, but by their final game and victory versus Brearley, they played their most intense game of the season. Volleyball’s A Team clearly developed a strong passion for the game over the course of the season. In the post-season tournament the Nighthawks came up short, but Coach Mumford could not have been prouder.

JV Volleyball was the pride of the fall season, with a 9–3 record. One of the season’s highlights for this young team was the Homecoming victory versus Brearley. Throughout the season, the team played with superior confidence and excellent pass-set-spike volleyball.

Though Varsity Cross Country was small in numbers, they were big in heart, finishing ninth out of 20 schools at the New York State Independent School Championship. Nightingale’s top runner, Stephanie Spanfeller ’10, placed fifth out of 101 runners.

Varsity soccer was led by seniors Samantha Hall,

Emma Neisser, and Annabel Wick, and finished with a 3–10–1 record. The Nighthawks went into the AAIS Tournament seeded ninth and the came away victorious with a score of 4–2 after a shootout; the team has a lot to look forward to in the 2009 season.

Varsity Volleyball was led by captains Stephanie Lachaud ’10 and Hillary Brown ’09 and had an impressive non-league showing, enjoyed a 10–6 record, and reached the AAIS Tournament quarter-finals with a sixth-place finish. We look forward to conquering the AAIS next season!

The Jv and varsity volleyball teams celebrate Jv’s win over brearley at the fall homecoming game. Left: cross country runner Renee Ericson ’10.

the Faculty/Staff Diversity Committee, Parents of

C.A.F.E., the C.A.F.E. student group, and the

Nightingale Alumnae Board.

Mr. Gay has taught Spanish at Nightingale for

several years and, in addition to his community life

responsibilities, will still teach one AP class and

one Middle School class. Outside of the classroom,

Mr. Gay has served as co-advisor to C.A.F.E.,

run the Gospel Choir, served as musical director

for the Upper School musical, and has spent

many hours representing Nightingale at national

conferences, recruiting fairs, and as a diversity

speaker at other schools.

“It seems only fitting that a school that

distinguishes itself from other educational

institutions because of its belief in educating

the heart and the mind would have a position

that ensures equity and social justice for all of

its members,” Mr. Gay said. “I am elated to have

more time to properly attend to the needs of

the many constituencies—students, parents, and

faculty—that comprise this unique community,

and to serve as a resource for all families.”

Director of Community Life and Diversity AppointedDerrick Gay has been appointed Nightingale’s

first director of community life and diversity,

responsible for promoting and supporting an

inclusive school community. He will work closely

with the Trustee Community Life Task Force,

30 THE BLUE DOORS THE BLUE DOORS 31

Lower, Middle, •

and Upper School

Competitions

Raffles•

Silent Auction •(K–IV handmades

and more)

Concluding that he had been unfairly overlooked, Nagel founded Americans for Madison, an organization dedicated to celebrating his legacy and promoting the bill at the heart of her lobbying efforts: H.R. 3640, the James Madison Memorial Act of 2007, sponsored by Congressman Baron Hill (D, IN-9th).

While the bill has been pending since it was presented in September 2007 and referred to the subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, Nagel continues to lobby lawmakers with calls and e-mails. And clicking a button on americansformadison.org enables visitors to petition Congress to support the bill.

Nagel has continued her campaign to raise awareness of Madison on other fronts too. A calendar on the Web site outlines annual historic dates and events like the panel she convened this past October at the New York Historical Society. The event featured Joseph Ellis, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, and Sean Wilentz, general editor of the James Madison Library at Princeton—both members of the Americans for Madison advisory board. Ellis calls Nagel Madison’s

“best advocate since Dolley [Madison’s wife].”Nagel has written op-ed pieces about the

Madison bill and is currently working on curriculum for a federally mandated day of Constitution education in schools. Last summer she interned at the University of Virginia, helping to annotate the letters of Dolley Madison. She is also the founder of the history club at Nightingale.

Nagel’s U.S. history teacher, Diana Frangos, has told her she could be running the world one day. “I’ve never had a student who followed up so persistently and successfully on her interests,” said Frangos.

As the bicentennial of Madison’s inauguration approaches on March 4, 2009, Nagel hopes to help Americans connect the freedom they enjoy today with Madison’s efforts 200 years ago to establish the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the branches of government that serve as our checks and balances.

“Everyone should know their rights and that they are protected in large part thanks to Madison.”

ms. nagel goes to washington

by Jessica Shambora

Ask a group of people to picture a lobbyist and they likely envision a big Washington powerbroker, maybe a bit older, with a fancy suit and a healthy sense of self-importance. In short, the ultimate

“fat cat.” What they probably don’t picture is a fresh-faced Nightingale senior named Hadley Nagel, who never imagined herself as a lobbyist either until she traveled to D.C. in 2007, seeking support for a James Madison memorial.

Watching as lobbyists were ushered in and out of lawmakers’ offices, Nagel saw more than a way to advance her cause—she saw a reflection of her own determination. “They had a sense of purpose that seemed to say, ‘I’m here for this. This is what I’m going to get done,’” observed Nagel. Soon after her visit, she completed the paperwork making her the youngest registered lobbyist on Capitol Hill at 17 years old.

Nagel’s love of history can be traced back to the stories of the American Girl dolls of her childhood, but her fascination with Madison began with a visit to his Montpelier, Virginia, estate during its restoration. She already knew about the Fourth President’s role in creating the Constitution and Bill of Rights. But as she learned in greater detail about his influence on the format of American government, she marveled that the home of such an historical figure was only now being reinstated. She was even more troubled to discover that there was no monument to Madison in Washington.

“He wasn’t the tallest, most charismatic man in the room,” Nagel says, explaining that Madison stood just five and a half feet tall. “He was the quiet intellectual coming up with big ideas in the corner of the room.”

senior hadley Nagel stands with chief Justice of the united states supreme court John Roberts on constitution Day in 2008.

March 5, 2009 6:30–9:00 p.m.

at the schoolhouse20 East 92nd Street

New York City www.nightingale.org/benefit

Join the

Nightingale-Bamford

School at a community

celebration for all

parents, alumnae, faculty,

and staff in support of the

Scholarship Fund

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres provided byPAOLA’SRESTAURANT

The

Greatest Show

on EarthCasual

attire

They had a sense of purpose that seemed to say, ‘I’m here for this. This is what I’m going to get done.’

nightingale parents

host benefits to support

scholarship fund

The Nightingale Parents Association and our huge corps of parent volunteers put on two terrific benefits last fall to raise money for the Scholarship Fund. Thanks to the extreme generosity of our community and the parent chairs of these events, we have already raised almost $60,000 to help provide scholarships for our girls.

MOvIE PREMIERE bENEfIT

Our biannual movie benefit took place on November 4, 2008, when a packed audience watched a premiere of Hurricane Season, the new Forest Whitaker film slated for release in 2009. Afterward, participants enjoyed a wonderful meal at the University Club. Special thanks to the Weinstein Company for donating the film and to tri-chairs Wendy Cebula, Eve Weinstein, and Caroline Williamson.

ThE GREATEsT shOw ON EARTh

This year, we feature two benefits under the circus-themed umbrella of “The Greatest Show on Earth.” The first annual Nightingale trunk show was held on November 11, 2008, in the Student Center. Twenty-six vendors, including several alumnae, set out their wares to benefit the Scholarship Fund, which received a portion of all sales. The one-day event raised over $15,000—thank you to all who came out to support!

The trunk show was just the beginning, though. On March 5, 2009, we will transform the gymnasium with a fun, community-oriented (and circus-themed!) celebration. Parents, friends, alumnae, faculty, and staff are all invited to this terrific event—you can find more information below and at www.nightingale.org/benefit. See you there!

32 THE BLUE DOORS THE BLUE DOORS 33

Kate Evans ’21 took a few moments out of the annual Homecoming pancake breakfast on September 27, 2008, to color a banner for the Varsity soccer game. Go Nighthawks!

Voic

es

Julie Whitaker is a member of Nightingale’s English faculty.

Last summer, after eighteen hours on the plane, my husband and I arrived at the Mumbai airport, where we began the first part of our two-month stay in India. There was Mumbai, a city of brilliant colors, intense sunlight, and constant movement, a perfect complement to our feelings of disorien-tation and unreality.

We set out to explore the neighborhood around our complex. The street crossing ours just beyond our gateway looked, at first glance, like a rubble-strewn alley. But as we walked along it, we discovered that those closet-sized openings were shops, shop after shop after shop. There was literally everything one needed for life on that street: steel fabricators, carpenters, poultry shops with live chickens, a hairdresser for women, a barber for men, a grain shop complete with puffs of white flour and men whose beards and hair had taken on the same color, fruit and vegetable stands, a computer store, a tailor for women’s clothes, a temple.

Central Mumbai welcomes her visitors with a vision of magnificence. The Gateway to India, a grand triumphal arch placed between the shimmering of the port waters and the lively confusion of the city streets, was built to honor a visit from the royal family of England. Not far from the arch, the domed structure of the Taj Mahal Hotel dominates a plaza filled with businessmen, families, vendors, and tourists. On a narrow street winding away from the Taj is the Cafe Leopold, established in 1871 and in active use ever since. Here, on November 26, 2008, a “Gang of Ten” chose to launch their attack on Mumbai. At 9:40 p.m. the attackers strolled by the cafe and casually began shooting into the interior through the outside windows. Their gunfire sprayed the dining room for a full minute before they hurled a grenade and then moved on to terrorize inhabitants of the Taj Hotel. Six customers and two waiters, both of whom were Muslim, were left dead at the Leopold. The 10 militants continued their attack in Mumbai for two days, leaving death and destruction in their

wake. The assault was finely tuned to attract international attention.

When our children came to visit, we had wandered around that square, visited the Taj and stopped for lunch at the Leopold Cafe. We talked and laughed as we sat at a table covered with red-and-white checkered tablecloths, enjoying the casual atmosphere and the sense of time that the Leopold exudes. On the walls were posters from England and America and the odd souvenir left over from the British Raj. Now there are new souvenirs: the bullet holes through the windows, pockmarks from shrapnel on the walls, and a hole in the floor where the grenade exploded. The owner of the Leopold has decided to leave those marks as they are, as a reminder and as a symbol of defiance.

Within 48 hours after the siege of the Taj Mahal Hotel ended, the Leopold Cafe had been cleaned up, blessed by a Zoroastrian priest, and was serving dinner. That rapid recovery might be a metaphor for the way the Indian people cope with tragedy.

Terrorism is not new in India. In the past ten years, there have been numerous terrorist attacks: bombs in cars, trains derailed, suitcases that explode, fundamentalist mobs that target certain members of the population, then attack them. While we were in Mumbai, the immigrants from Northern India, particularly the cabdrivers, had reason to fear for their lives. Raj Thackery, a powerful and corrupt politician, roused local resentment with his inflammatory speeches decrying the invasion of their city by the Northerners. He called on all the hatred and prejudice he could muster and set his gangs of thugs on the immigrants, the outsiders. Beatings, burnings of homes, and deaths were headlines in the Times of India. The November 26 attack in Mumbai resulted in the deaths of 170 individuals, a small number in contrast to the hundreds, all tolled, who have died in previous attacks. The direct manner of the attacks, gunmen who shot their victim face-on, coupled with the location, a glamorous tourist center where the rich and famous hang out, made the Mumbai attack especially dramatic and terrible in the eyes of the world.

The Indians’ quick recovery is also dramatic, but it is hopeful and encouraging. Mumbai, with its vast population, has enviable energy. The determination to take a central place in the commercial world today is evident on every street. In no time at all following the attacks, stores and restaurants opened up, trains were running, and people strolled the streets as if nothing had happened. The ability to repair the damage and go back to work is a profound tribute to the courage and resiliency of the people of Mumbai.

Here we feature an essay by a member of the Nightingale community. If you would like to share some of your thoughts or experiences with others in the community, please contact us at [email protected].