Dear Alumni,
Sometimes West Coast alumni seem to miss the School more intensely than those living closer. So it didn’t surprise me recently when Lawrence Siskind ’79 emailed from Eugene, Oregon
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to say that news of all the changes at the School had elicited memories of his time here in the 1970s when my office was closet-size in a locker room long-ago transformed, Saturdays meant Saturday Club and the games of four square in an era marked by a “four square craze,” as Lawrence described it. I, too, remember Saturday mornings when there were as many as three courts taped out on the gym floor. I played with the boys as well as refereed: final arbiter of line disputes. Four square, which requires quick feet and superior hand-eye coordination, is an elegant game and in some ways is the opposite of the boys’ favorite at this time: dodgeball.
Pin-dodge ball, played by the older boys during roof periods, was a fearsome activity. In this I was simply referee. As I look back on it now, beyond the boyish trash talk and the crash of misfires against the wire cage, I remember how much dodgeball was a game of specialists and how much that specialization revealed about the boys I taught. There were, of course, older, bigger boys renowned as flamethrowers. Others, more estimable in my view, took pride in catching the hardest throws the opposition gunners could muster. Also to be admired were the self-sacrificing boys who saw it as their duty to defend the pin at all cost. Some were hiders, cleverly staying out of harm’s way at the early stages of the game, only to emerge at the end to defend their team’s honor. A catch in those circumstances was a great triumph. And there were, alas, boys who had difficulty admitting they were hit. I could go on about everyman-for-himself scatterball, roof hockey (on the roof or in the gym), and the myriad versions of capture the flag, but I’ll save stories in hopes of seeing nostalgic West Coast alumni at the end of the month when I will be in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
We can talk more about the masochists then.
Fortiter et Recte,
David Kersey h'98
Faculty since 1969
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Wednesday, February 27
San Francisco Reception
6:00-8:00pm
Hosted by Ian Kasman '84
St. Francis Yacht Club
99 Yacht Road
San Francisco, CA
Friday, March 1
Los Angeles Reception
6:00-8:00pm
Hosted by Zak Penn '83
355 South Plymouth Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
SAVE THE DATE
Friday, May 31
Reunion
583 Park Avenue
New York City
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Alumni of Color Gathering
January 11, 2019
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On Friday, January 11, Allen-Stevenson hosted a panel discussion with alumni for our Boys of Color at Allen-Stevenson (BOCAS) Affinity Group. Panelists spoke their personal experiences as students of color at A-S and imparted tips for achieving success.
A special thank you to our panelists Kris Harris ’95, P’22, ’24, ’26, Ralph Rella ’93, Denton Smith ’94, and Jaison Spain ’97!
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Matt Levinson '02
(Stage Name: Matt Butler) recently performed at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York City! He has been on the road for the last year performing his original song 'Just One’ for the feature length and nationally distributed documentary
Generation Found
. Check out more of Matt's music
here
.
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Major Christopher Hallows '87
has taken command of 1/504th “Red Devils” PIR, a parachute infantry battalion in the 82nd Airborne Division. He is working with 700 paratroopers some of whom are just a few years older than the 9th graders at A-S!
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Bill Konigsberg '86
now has an award named after him! Going forward, each year the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) will recognize an individual with the Bill Konigsberg Award for Acts and Activism for Equity and Inclusion through Young Adult Literature.
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We are putting together some highlights of Monica Matthew’s work for over three decades at Allen-Stevenson!
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Support the Alumni Annual Fund
Your gift goes directly to support the School, our boys, and all of the programs that make A-S special.
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Alumni Updates
Do you have any news to share? A new job? Moved to a new city?
A birth or adoption? Met up with some A-S alums?
No news is too small – and photos are welcomed too!
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Previous Blue & Gold Issues
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