FROM THE HEADMASTERlib.store.yahoo.net/lib/oxfordacademy/june2004.pdf · school to continue to move forward in the quality of education that it bestows on each student. ... students

June 2004 Westbrook, Connecticut 06498 No. 40

Class of 2004 ............................................................... 2Awards/Certificates ..................................................... 2Annual Appeal ............................................................. 3Tennis Team ................................................................ 3Centennial Campaign .............................................. 4–5

Weekend Auction ........................................................ 6Dome Project ............................................................... 6Alumni Coucil Executive Committee ......................... 7Class Notes .................................................................. 7Legacy Initiative .......................................................... 8

FROM THE HEADMASTER

IN THIS ISSUE:

The Class of 2004 has gradu-ated from Oxford Academyand next week the summersession will begin. That is partof the never-ending cycle ofschools and one that allows theschool to continue to moveforward in the quality ofeducation that it bestows oneach student.

Also, as I look at thecampus I see the front half ofLind Hall being taken down inpreparation for the constructionof three new duplex apartments for the faculty, aT.V. room for the students and two new studentrooms. This construction is part of our five yearplan that will culminate with the 100th anniver-sary celebration in 2006. If we can reach ourgoals, Oxford will be in a very strong situationand ready for whatever will come its way.

The most difficult part of reaching all ourgoals is funding an endowment. For the pastninety-eight years the school has operated withoutsignificant endowment funds and has been tuitionbased as far as its cash flow was concerned. Nowwe have to change that fact and raise funds toinsure the future stability of the school. Asheadmaster, it is my duty to not only make each

year a successful one, but also tomake sure when I leave, that thefoundation for the future is set.

Endowment money is difficultto raise, but I hope when I come tosee you that you will understandhow critical it is to our faculty andstudents. It will allow us to keeppace with a salary structure thatwill help us keep our teachers andalready that is being seen as onlyone faculty member has left in eachof the past two years. The retentionof faculty means that our students

are being taught by men and women who reallyunderstand the Oxford method and enjoy thebenefits of this unique school.

I hope you will help us celebrate the 100years of Oxford Academy by really becominginvolved as we try and raise two million dollarsfor our endowment. I know many of you havereally benefited from your experience here and Ihope this time that will translate into giving. Itreally means that you have faith in what we doand want to see it continue. I have been fortu-nate to have led this school and I want to insurethat it will be in great shape, when somedaydown the road, I hand the reins of leadership tothe next headmaster.

—Philip H. Davis

E N T E R I N G O U R 9 9 T H Y E A R 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5

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Abdulkareem A. Al-Ibrahim .......... Paris, FRANCE...................... American U. of Paris

Dhary H. Al-Sadoun ....................... Kaifan, KUWAIT ................... Lynn University

Zainal Khalid Alireza ..................... Jeddah, SAUDI ARABIA ...... U of California- Berkeley

John T. Chesla ................................ Sudbury, MA .......................... Lynn University

Charles Prescott Drew .................... Arlington, MA ....................... U of Maine - Orono

Austin Bradford Fuller ................... Cheshire, CT .......................... Syracuse University

Gregory Thomas Gorman............... Wilton, CT ............................. Lynn University

Robert Fenton Howland ................. Simsbury, CT ......................... University of the Pacific

Yonghwan Kim ............................... Seoul, KOREA....................... Rensselaer Polytechnical

William Gallatin Lanier ................. New York, NY ........................ Bard College

William T. Lurie ............................. Marietta, GA .......................... Roosevelt University

Madison J. McGaw ........................ Tarrytown, NY ....................... Hofstra University

Franz Carey Radlauer ..................... New Orleans. LA ................... University College- Tulane

Najd Rochemont ............................. Paris, FRANCE...................... Schiller International U.

James Tully ..................................... Winchester, MA ..................... Suffolk University

Gabriel Wagner ............................... Purchase, NY ......................... New England College

G. Jonathan Waldrip, III ................. New York, NY ........................ St. John’s University

Justin B. York ................................. New York, NY ........................ P.G. at Oxford Academy

AwardsHeadmaster’sAward PlaqueCharles Drew

Most SignificantAcademic ProgressMadison J. McGaw

Superior AcademicAchievement

Jonathan Waldrip, III

Most Outstanding AthleteJames Tully

CertificatesEnglish

Austin B. Fuller

MathYonghwan Kim

HistoryAbdulkareem Al-Ibrahim

ScienceJustin B. York

Foreign LanguageJames Tully

ESL Najd Rochemont

ArtYonghwan Kim

and Najd Rochemont

CLASS OF 2004The Class of 2004 had a chilly morning, but a warm reception as the late May sun rose higher andhigher over the Donald K. Miller Study Center where the commencement exercises were held. OnMay 29 eighteen young men were handed their diplomas with the help of Dr. James Corthouts, ourfirst Chairman of the Board of Trustees (who by the way is celebrating his 94th birthday this year!)

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2004 Tennis Team: Mother Nature and a light schedule conspired tokeep the Oxford Tennis tem off the courts this spring. When we wereable to play some tennis, co-captains Lach Markay and Matt Shoptaughled us. Matt also went undefeated at #1 singles and is one of the finestplayers that Geoff Cartier and Ryan Hartt have coached at Oxford.Rounding out the roster were #3 singles player Alex Russo (2-1) anddoubles players Raj Patel, John Filippelli, John Chesla and James Tully.The team practiced and played hard all season. They should be proud oftheir improvements as tennis players and as young men.

ANNUAL APPEAL

2003-2004ANNUAL APPEAL

2003-2004IN SUPPORT OF

ARTS, ATHLETICS

& ACTIVITIES

Oxford has a rich tradition of providing excellencein education. Within our academically-intensivecommunity, we think it is important to providestudents with a variety of stimulating extra-curricular opportunities. This year’s annual fund isbeing used to enhance our extra-curricularofferings. In the words of one Oxford Alumnus:

“While at Oxford, I was offered many recreationalopportunities-I played varsity soccer in the fall,supported the Oxford basketball team in the winter,and played varsity tennis in the spring. These activitiesprovided me valuable lessons that were applicable to allareas of life, both inside the classroom and out: lessonsin self-reliance, teamwork, perseverance, the thrill ofcompetition, winning with class, and losing with dignity.Moreover, sports were hardly the only activities madeavailable to me at Oxford- I attended the theater in NewHaven, popular concerts, the symphony, whale watchesin Boston, and whitewater rafting on the Deerfield River.

(I hope future) students may continue to have the widearray of opportunities that are necessary for them to achievethe success of a well-rounded, Oxford education.”

—JaeMi Pennington, Class of ’95

Funds from this year’s Annual Appeal purchased equipment forthe Photography Darkroom. Student Micah Spear poses with asample of his work, which hangs in Knight Hall’s Rotunda.

The Annual Appeal is a wonderful opportunity to supportOxford’s commitment to improve all aspects of life oncampus. Our sincere appreciation to all of you who havealready given to the Fund. If you have not yet made acontribution and would like to do so, please use the enclosedenvelope. On behalf of our students, thank you very much.

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HOW BIG A DIFFERENCE

DOES YOUR GIFT TO THE

IT’S ABOUT OUR FACULTY

$3,000,000for

Teaching ExcellenceLife on Campus

Blueprints for the Future

Centennial Campaign 2006

$3 Million!

$250,000

$500,000

$750,000

$1 Million

$1.25

$1.5

$1.75

$2 Million

$2.25

$2.5

$2.75

Dear Oxford Academy Board of Directors,

We just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for

your hard work and dedication in bringing the new

apartments into reality. This new building is more

than just several apartments and student housing.

This construction is an illustration of the Board of

Directors’ commitment to not only excellence in

education, but also the family atmosphere that brings

high quality educators to work and live at Oxford

Academy. Our gratitude for all the time, effort and

resources that you have given cannot be expressed

with mere words. We hope that our continued

devotion to Oxford Academy’s mission to scholastic

excellence and preservation of family vales will be a

constant reminder to you of our appreciation for all

that you have accomplished. Once again, on behalf

of all our families, thank you.

—Sincerely,

Kerry DeWolfe, Ryan Hartt

and Chris Baxter

On-campus Faculty

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CENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN MAKE?

WE

EK

O

NE

WE

EK

T

WO

WE

EK

TH

RE

E

OLD LIND HALL NEW LIND HALL

FACULTY APARTMENTS FACULTY APARTMENTS

One Floor Two Floors1 Bedroom 3 Bedrooms

1 Bath 1 1/2 BathsCombined Living Room/Kitchen Combined Living Room/Dining Room

Small Study Large StudySeparate Kitchen

Washer and DryerFireplaces

Construction for apartments, 2 student rooms and a student lounge: $822,655Room to interact with students, entertain, tutor, raise a family: Priceless!

YOUR GIFTS MAKE AN IMMEASURABLE DIFFERENCE.

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Chris Rinaldi, English Department, donated private Martial Arts lessons to the auction. Gabe Wagner ’04 was the lucky and eagerwinner. Chris and Gabe share a fascination with Japanese history and culture. Prior to teaching at Oxford, Chris taught in Japanand after graduation, Gabe is attending a Summer Abroad Program in Japan.

During our Spring Parents’ Weekend, we held our first SilentAuction, in support of this year’s Annual Appeal, “Arts,Athletics & Activities.” We raised about $15,000.00. Over 50wonderful items were available, including New York Giants &Red Sox tickets, a Day of Golf with the Headmaster, sportsmemorabilia, a digital camera & printer, a Frank Sinatra goldrecord, book collections, CD’s, vacations in the Bahamas &Casco Bay, jewelry, the “Dean of Students Mystery Box,”homework passes, tennis lessons, homemade cookies, ahandmade bat house, a 12 week old black Labrador pup andoriginal artwork. Many thanks to parent volunteer Sally Silk,who helped collect donations and many thanks to everyonewho donated (parents, faculty, staff & students) and bid onauction items. All agreed that fundraising has never been so funand this should become an annual event.

Roxie, a black Labrador puppywas donated by a parent. Shestayed at the school for severaldays prior to Parents Weekendand became a much-loved partof the Oxford community.During the auction, she waspurchased by another parentand given to Kerry deWolfe, amember of the Science Depart-ment, who lives on- campus.

PARENTS SPRING

WEEKEND AUCTION

THE DOME PROJECT

Over the spring term Bryan (Yonghwan) Kim expressed an interest in architecture thatcoincided with his application to Rhode Island School of Design. He had completedPrecalculus and decided to earn an Honors credit by doing a project. He readBrunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross Kingwith Mrs. LaPlace. This book describes the building of the dome of Santa Maria delFiore in Florence and how the technology developed changed architecture includingexamples of applied mathematics that Brunelleschi used, such as measuring the heightsof Roman ruins using a mirror and similar triangles. It discussed the difficulties ofdome building due to the combined downward and outward pressures that Brunelleschihad to overcome. Mrs. LaPlace took Bryan to visit several domes in the state includingthe state capitol building in Hartford and a scale model of Michelangelo’s dome of SaintPeter’s Basilica in New Haven. As the capstone to this project Bryan built a scale modelof the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore for Math class with the advice of Ms. Vaughn,his art teacher, and wrote a paper on the book for Mr. Hartt’s History class. This was atrue multi-disciplinary project. Bryan was accepted to Rhode Island School of Design.

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Class of ’60Charles Daniel stays in touchwith Phil Davis, Headmaster. Helives in Birmingham, Alabama.His children are doing well: oneattends the Darlington Schooland the other is at BirminghamSouthern College.

Class of ’80Summer student Jean-Mariedella Faille stays in touch withus from Belgium, where he isdoing well. We were happy toget this news: “After Oxford, Igraduated from Belgian Univer-sity as a Commercial Engineer.After studying, I fulfilled mymilitary obligation and finishedup as a Reserve Officer. Then Imarried and began to work. Ihave been working in Belgiumand France. My family bought avineyard in Bordeaux, and weare producing top “Haut Medoc”wines. I’m working as directorin 8 different companies. BestRegards to all.”

We received news of AlexOrdway through his brother,class of ’84: Alex runs acompany in Venezuela, InversionsSemeze. He distributor for Coltand Glock firearms. He alsosupplies the explosives to themining and oil industries. Hebases his time between Miamiand Caracas and is married with ayoung daughter, Elinka Ordway.

Class of ’84South Africa is now home forLucius Peter Ordway and hisfamily. He recently wrote: Ifounded Mediscapes(www.surgeryabroad.com) 4years ago and we are gettingvery favorable Media coveragein the USA. We specialize inorganizing cosmetic surgery andall other forms of medicaltreatment for vacation visitors to

South Africa, where thesurgeons training is the same asthe USA but our prices areexactly half that of the US forany procedure; and one gets avacation in one of the mostbeautiful places on earth aswell! I got married inSeychelles last year to DidiCoole and I have a daughter,Tayla-Jordan Ordway 7 months.We live in the shadow of TableMountain in Cape Town, SouthAfrica with occasional but rarevacations to the family islandsin Greece or Mozambique. Withbest wishes to all at Oxford.”

Class of ’92Our heartfelt congratulations toKen Nelson on the birth of hisson, Hadley. They live in VeroBeach, Florida.

Class of ’98We all were happy to welcomeAlex Glen for a visit to thecampus this spring. He has justreceived his degree in filmmakingfrom Savannah College of Art andDesign. He now returns to NewYork City, where he will continuehis work in filmmaking. Alex anda friend spoke to the currentstudents about life after Oxford.

Class of ’99This spring Dan Burke gradu-ates from Vander Cook Collegeof Music in Chicago. He isapplying to graduate programs invocal performance and beginninghis student teaching.

Hayden Williams graduatedfrom Haverford College thisspring. Phil Davis appreciatesthat Hayden stays in touch.

Class of ’01Matt LaSota (History Department& Asst Dean) stays in touch withGreg Staat. Greg is at VirginiaMilitary Institute. He hopes toreturn for another visit soon.

Mert Atakan is home inTurkey, but he is near the end ofhis studies at Bryant College, inRhode Island.

Keith Ringel has been in touchwith Leon Palmieri (EnglishDepartment). He is living inFlorida and is doing very well.

Class of ’02Gavin Schwartz-Leeper ‘02and Ian Schwartz-Leeper ‘03continue to stay in touch withLeon Palmieri. They havefinished up another year atSimon’s Rock of Bard Collegein Massachusetts. Together theyhave bought an antique AlphaRomeo, British-green. Gavinhas been accepted into OxfordUniversity for 2005, to studyTolkien and Shakespeare (not asurprise to his teachers!).

Class of ’03Tim Ballantyne recentlyreceived an e-mail fromAbdullah Al-Tubayieb, who isstudying at the AmericanUniversity in Bahrain. He ispursuing a Bachelor of Sciencedegree in Business Informationand also working full time in alocal company. Life is crazyfor him. He sends his best to hisfellow Oxford Alumni. Inanswer to his question: yes,Abdullah, Oxford is definitivelynot the same without you!

The past year has seen lots ofchanges for Moises de la Renta.After finishing his first yearstudying communications atMarymount Manhattan, he isstarting his own fashion collection.He says it is simply “a naturalprogression - something that I’vebeen around my whole life.”

This spring Craig Hatcherbegan at Savannah College ofArt and Design.

Alex Doijer is happy and doingwell at Bucknell University.

Several faculty members hearregularly from OJ Al-Qatami.He finds the work at CuyamacaCollege in San Diego challeng-ing, but he is working hard.

Cary Pew has finished up hisfirst year at Hartwick College.

Sam Moss has also finished hisfreshman year at Wheaton College.

CLASS NOTES

Members of theAlumni Council

Executive Committee:

J. Tipton Pugh ’69Kevin N. Baab ’72

Kevin M. Shimwell ’77Louis Fayan ’79J. Mark Price ’86

John W. Graham ’86David Andrew ’86Matt Brainerd ’89

JaeMi Pennington ’95Robert B. Barry ’97

Jason M. Roberts ’98Jay Breuer ’99Greg Staat ’01

Palmer K. Hussman ’02Robert C. Pew ’03Will Urquhart ’03

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THE OXFORD ACADEMY

LEGACY INITIATIVE

In recognition of individuals whose generosity includes the support of Oxford Academyin their estate plans, the Board introduces The Oxford Academy Legacy Initiative.

Oxford recognizes Dr. James L. Corthouts as a valued partner in theLegacy Initiative. In 1973 Dr. Corthouts brought Oxford Academy toWestbrook, Connecticut. Since that time he has been actively involvedin the many changes that have occurred on the Westbrook campusthrough his generous support of the annual fund “Knight Hall Cam-paign” and the Centennial Campaign. His generosity also includesnaming the school as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

Thank you Dr. Corthouts for all you have done for Oxford Academy.We are proud to recognize you as a partner in

The Oxford Academy Legacy Initiative.

You may already know that Dr. Corthouts:Is Chairman of the Oxford BoardHired Phil Davis as HeadmasterTurned 90 in 2000Shakes hands with each graduate

You may not know that Dr. Corthouts:Put himself through dental schoolHas seven daughters and one sonIs 100% FlemishWas in a movie with Mary Pickford