March is one of those months with a great deal of promise. The days get longer, we're given a day now and then above freezing, and those fully overcast Rochester days take a pause. Sunshine lifts the spirit and you can feel it at school: kids are outside more, laughter in the faculty lounges is a little more boisterous, everyone feels simply more cheerful as we inch toward spring.

We have so much to celebrate at Harley these days—last week we invited our community into the underwater world of SpongeBob The Musical: Youth Edition with our Middle School showing off tremendous acting and singing skills, our HAC winter sports are wrapping up and we're proud to share their accomplishments over the season! HAC athletes were named to Finger Lakes West All-League in both boys and girls basketball, as well as the Wayne-Finger Lakes League All Star boys and girls in both indoor track and swimming and diving. Next week we will hold our BLAST! Gala fundraiser. Thank you to all who are supporting the school by joining us for events, following us on social media, and more!

—Karen

THE HARLEY SCHOOL• Dr. Kathryn Kaiser’s Office • March 4, 2024

Campus Chronicle: March in Rochester

Time In-between

This is my first March in Rochester. I am told that Spring is a long way off, but I can’t help but feel like it is around the corner. When I lived in Philadelphia, sometimes the daffodils would begin to peek up from the soil and then a big snow would happen. That’s the image I have in my mind right now as I think about this in-between time. For children, this is also a time of both calm and excitement. There is a confidence that comes with March, a sense of familiarity and mastery. There is also anticipation, an increasing awareness of growth and change, of possibility. It’s one of my favorite teaching times, the in-between. I hope you can marvel at your children as they straddle this present line between past and future.

You will soon hear directly from Division Heads with specific information about your division(s). My goal, as always, in this chronicle is to provide you with information on planned N-12 school programming, upcoming family engagement opportunities, and our Harley Direction work that is underway.

Harley Direction

Our community continues to work towards the comprehensive sustainability of the Harley School through four measurable and interdependent focus areas by 2025: Community, Academic, Environmental, Fiscal.

Community moments

In February, we had so many beautiful community moments including the Twoville Post Office, Winter Sports senior nights, student performances, Silent Auction/Silent Disco, Preview Nights for 2024-25, a Valentine Dance, and more! Thank you for the many evenings you spent at Harley supporting, learning, and celebrating. Special thanks to Grade 4 parent David Kittelberger for producing a Kindergarten through Grade 12 assembly event for Black History Month on the afternoon before break. With coordination by Danielle Walters-Kiner P '28 and Jonathan Ntheketha P '29, '31 (our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion team), the assembly highlighted the role Rochester and New York State played in the Underground Railroad as well as people who fight for equal rights for all its citizens. During the assembly (see photo below), Community was emphasized by sharing how, despite very diverse backgrounds, Rochester and other groups in New York came together to fight against inequality. Understanding our shared humanity is one of the greatest assets we have. Unity was emphasized by introducing students to historical freedom fighters from the region. The friendship between Frederick Douglass & Susan B. Anthony demonstrates how we can work together to achieve a common goal and create unity in the fight for equal rights. Participants included Carlos Merriweather as Frederick Douglass, beautiful singing by Chablis Green, and a moving performance by dancers Jerald J. Creer and Keyazsha of RIT Sunshine 2.0 dance company.

Academic Experiences

Harley students have had space on their minds quite a bit this year. Last month, six students presented their designs for the NASA HUNCH program at RIT to rave reviews. HUNCH inspires students, through project-based learning, to participate in the design and fabrication of real-world valued products for NASA. These prototype projects will be considered for the Final Design Review, scheduled to take place in Houston, TX, in April 2024. If selected, a maximum of three students from each team may have the opportunity to travel to Houston and present their finalized designs to NASA engineers and astronauts. The purpose of each project is to develop a solution that NASA can incorporate into their upcoming missions to the moon and Mars. Harley projects included a lunar habitat, a lunar bamboo greenhouse, and a water filtration solution. Good luck to our HUNCH teams!

Environmental Action

At Harley, I have joined an elite group of Independent Schools in the United States who have been selected by The Edward E. Ford Foundation to engage in aspirational thinking about education and the future of our schools. Last week, I had the honor of attending the annual meeting of the Heads from all of the schools that have received Educational Leadership Grants from E.E Ford during the National Association of Independent Schools Annual Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Representing Harley and participating in a valuable discussion on initiatives that the Foundation might consider trying to incubate or consider funding was a highlight of my experience.  

The Harley School received an E.E. Ford traditional grant to create, develop, and disseminate a comprehensive climate change curriculum for students. Simultaneously, the grant supports work to align Harley’s institutional practices with the spirit of the curriculum through the writing and implementing of a school-wide sustainability plan; including a goal related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I am currently participating in a task force of administration, teachers, parents, trustees, and students to continue exploring potential renewable energy solutions and sustainability initiatives for our campus. This is one of many E.E.Ford grants awarded to Harley through a highly competitive process. One past grant supported our nationally recognized hospice program and allowed us to formalize, validate, and provide teacher education and professional development for the pedagogy of teaching empathy to Upper School students and to establish the Center for Mindfulness and Empathy Education (CMEE). Harley continues to lead the way nationally in curricular innovation and model necessary progress in Independent schools.

Fiscal Sustainability

Please join us at our upcoming BLAST! Gala on Saturday, March 23 from 6–11pm presented by our Diamond Level Sponsor Moon & Stone. You can purchase your tickets here or contact Eboné Creighton for information about sponsoring a table. We will be Illuminating the Essence of Renewal and Transformation at Arbor Midtown, 183 E. Main Street Rochester, NY 14604. BLAST! helps support our annual fund which is critical to our financial sustainability. I look forward to seeing you there!

Yours,

Kathryn

Dr. Kathryn Kaiser

Transitional Head of School

The Harley School

Join us for Harley's BLAST! on Saturday, March 23, 6-11pm

If you are going to be in Rochester next weekend and are looking for an excuse to get dressed up, hang out with friends, dance, and enjoy delicious treats, look no further! Join us as we celebrate Harley in style at one of Rochester's newest event venues, Arbor Midtown, 183 East Main Street in downtown Rochester. There will be food and drink, a live auction with items ranging from: weekend getaways, to items supporting your Rochester Eclipse viewing to wine from award-winning Napa Valley Corison Winery (owned by Kathy and William Martin '80), to a gorgeous glass bowl from Willsea-O'Brien Glass (from the team of Paul Willsea '77 and his wife Carol), and more. Dollars raised will support the students and faculty of Harley, and Horizons at Harley Summer Programming.

Tickets are $250. Click here to purchase your tickets today*!

*Psst...OR wait to purchase your tickets on Monday for the 10% St. Patrick's Day discount...you didn't hear it from me.

We have alumni all over the world and the great thing about email and social media is that we can stay connected even though we are so far away! I've been sharing emails about Harley's Silent Auction Silent Disco and BLAST! and Rachel Zinman-Jeanes '84, in Australia, was inspired to share something with me:

I saw the kids are doing the silent disco and I wanted to let you know about my husband John Weddepohl's new song which is so great for disco. It's called Let's Dance. You can find it on all streaming platforms, but here it is on Spotify. I’ve never really done a music video before, but I had a lot of fun making it and Paul Zinman '80 (my brother) had fun mastering the track.

It's been quite a project for me to really drill down on my skills as well as to discover what it means to promote music in 2024 and to continue to be creative musically myself. I think the biggest thing I learned at Harley was to explore all sides of creativity and watch others do the same. I feel so lucky to have grown up when I did…before all the tech was introduced!

Rochester Movie Premier at Harley: Salamander Days

Salamander Days is an atmospheric meditation on friendship, grief, self-discovery, and adolescent consciousness. Set in an American high school, taking place in the midst of a student’s passing, and deeply rooted in the mythology of the salamander, the film explores the concepts of memory and creation, as well as the transformative experience of loss.

Co-directed by Rebekah Sherman-Myntti ’09 and filmed (in part) at The Harley School. The film also features other members of the alumni community including: Alex DeSantis P '84 (English, 1971-2009), Sybil Prince ’00, P ’37 (Hospice Educator, 2017-present), and Richard Simon ’20.

SALAMANDER DAYS - 35MM

EXPERIMENTAL, COMING OF AGE | 2023 | 64MIN

DIRECTOR

Rebekah Sherman-Myntti and KJ Rothweiler

CAST

Alex Arauz

Sabrina Fuentes

Richard Simon

Eléonore Hendricks

We hope you're able to join us for this Rochester premier and all the Reunion festivities during Alumni Reunion Weekend, June 21 and 22. Click here to see what else we have planned for the weekend and sign up!

In February, artist and professor Thomas Warfield, a member of the class of 1980, spent the day at Harley with students before speaking at our Commons Series in the evening. He was very generous with his time and students greatly appreciated hearing his stories and wisdom.

Channel 13 coverage here.

Channel 10 coverage here.

Harley raises go-getters. We’re taught to never give up!

– Miranda Blood ’17 

If you ever have the chance to meet Miranda Blood ’17, get ready to encounter someone who is excited about life and ready to put her full effort into everything, no matter the obstacles. Miranda is an actress and singer and this is just the kind of attitude you need to keep those job offers coming.

Even as a child, Miranda had a lot of exposure to theater life. When she was growing up, her mom taught acting and musical theater as well as directing productions at SUNY Geneseo. Miranda would often join her mom at rehearsals and performances. Her father was also musically inclined; he worked at RIT in the music department. Her love of theater continued to grow as she entered Harley in Grade 7. She found an immediate connection with Linda Foster P ’19, ‘19, Middle School Drama, 2010-2023. Miranda loved the way Mrs. Foster worked with the students and got them excited for their role, big or small, in any production. Linda was especially supportive when Miranda took on the lead of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. 

When Miranda moved on to Upper School, she took her theater chops out to local community theater and theater “training camps.” She even participated in productions at McQuaid Jesuit. At Harley, she worked with Ben Burroughs (Music, 2003-present) and Kristy Houston P ’25 (Music 2010-present) to hone her musical skills. She said their influence really gave her the confidence she needed when she was auditioning. 

Miranda also credits a few other Harley teachers who may not even know how much they’ve contributed to her success. History teachers Doug Gilbert ’87, P ’21, ’24, ’27, Middle School History 1999-present, Bill Schara, Upper School History, 1997-2021, 2022-23, and Kristin Sheradin, Upper School History, 2007-present, all gave her the literary skills she now draws on when she’s auditioning for historically themed shows. She also credits English teachers, Kim McDowell, English, History, College Counseling, Head of the Upper School, 2000-2022, David O’Brien P ’19, English, 2011-present, and Pat Malone P ’20, English, 2009-present, for teaching her to speak confidently to a group and nail those “cold reads” that actors are often asked to do at an audition. They also taught her really strong reading comprehension and character analysis skills.

After Harley, she went to Molloy University’s CAP21, a “New York City professional musical theater training conservatory and Off-Broadway theater company” and received a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Theater Arts and a minor in music. She loved her experience at CAP21, but that last year of college during Covid-19 was a doozy (try getting an acting job when all the theaters are shut down!), but she persevered. After graduating, she taught voice lessons until theaters opened back up in the Summer of 2021. In December 2021, she was hired for her first professional role as a singer and dancer at Kings Dominion Theme Park, entertaining guests dressed as a Peanuts character. In the Spring of 2022, she went to New York City where she joined a director and a team of actors to create a new musical for the New York Theater Festival. They worked together for five weeks fine-tuning the production and performed at the festival for one week. She said the collaborative spirit was inspiring! 

Following her stint in New York, she did a summer stock season in Michigan at The Barn Theater. In the Fall of 2022, she moved back to Rochester. For the past few years, she has been working at TYKES (Theater Young Kids Enjoy). TYKES specializes in children’s theater and often does performances based on children’s books. She’s participated in productions that include Llama, Llama Red Pajama and Giraffes Can’t Dance. She said the audience participation at these shows makes the performances even more fun.

Last summer she was in a production of Little Women at Bristol Valley Theater where she received a Broadway World nomination for Best Performer in a Supporting Role in a Professional Musical in the Central NY category for her role as Amy March. Now, she is working with one of the actors from that production who is directing the The Company Theater in Rochester’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She has been cast as Mae. Rehearsal begins in February and the performance dates are April 12-21. If you are going to be in the Rochester area, plan to come and support a fellow member of the alumni community. Click here to purchase tickets for the show!

Miranda’s dream is to land on Broadway in New York City. This dream keeps her motivated to continue to work in the theater industry. With that in mind, she is always preparing for auditions; she currently has 10-15 applications out across the Northeast. However, she is keeping her options open. She has started taking voice acting classes and is installing a recording studio at home. If she is not on stage, she wants to make sure she is prepared to voice animation productions, commercials, e-learning books, and the like. She has big plans and she’s not giving up!

To learn more about Miranda's work, click here.

Dez Morrow '17 is currently a nursing student at SUNY Brockport and wanted me to let the Harley community know about a way you can help support the local Rochester community:

I'm the treasurer of the accelerated class for the Student Nurse Organization at SUNY Brockport. I'm also currently a student representative on the Strategic Planning Committee for the Nurse Leadership Board of Education at SUNY Brockport. I'm emailing you because my organization is doing a Krispy Kreme fundraiser! We need to raise 300+ dozen boxes of donuts from Krispy Kreme by April 5th for them to deliver to us in Brockport, NY on April 12th, 2024.

The funds raised will be used by our organization to promote campus & community engagement by helping provide resources to the Rochester Regional Mobile HealthCare Unit overseen by Michael Brennan P '13, '15, '17, Harley CMEE Director, 2013-14 (DNP, FNP), donating to local charities/community centers, paying for non-perishable food items to give out to the less fortunate residing within the City of Rochester, providing self-care activities for nursing students as well as other SUNY Brockport Community Members, and expanding our organization operations overall to provide services, resources, and education to more individuals in need. 

Click here to learn more, fill out the form, and support the cause!

Professional cyclist Magnus Sheffield '20 signed-on for another two years with the INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team!

Kate Durand Helfrich, a member of the class of 1999, was recently featured in an article about beauty products for the visually impaired. Kate is the Senior Vice President of Global Product and Service Innovation at Benefit Cosmetics and shares, "It's our job to move the personal care industry forward to be more inclusive from all angles and Benefit really loves taking a central and responsible role.

Click here to read the article on Byrdie.com.

Jesse Newman '97 was interviewed on the CBS News Money Watch Report about how Americans are spending more of their disposable income on food. Jesse is a Food and Agriculture reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Amy Colosimo P '23, '23 (French, 1999-present) and Brendan Larrabee '06

Sammie Scott '15 married Matt Highsmith in October 2023!

Sammie Scott '15 and classmate, Jack Gumina '15, ran into each other at Albany Medical Center. Sammie is a 4th year medical student (applying for radiology residency), and Jack is a first year resident in the Emergency Room.

Karin Deutsch Karlekar '89, newly elected to Harley's Board of Trustees, was recently in town and able to meet two of the Edna Deutsch Memorial Scholarship recipients. This scholarship was created in memory of Edna Deutsch P '89, '92 (Math, 1978-2004, Alumni Office, 2004-05) to support student international travel. Zora Scannell-Rooks '26 (above) and Sophia Carling '24 (below) will use their scholarship money to support their June service trip to Costa Rica.

Karin Deutsch Karlekar '89 with Edna Deutsch Memorial Scholarship recipient Sophia Carling '24.

Lee Sherwood Allen McDermott '64 (Middle School Math, 1973-present) and Beaumont Vance '87

Mary Critikos '54 is getting excited for her 70th Reunion gathering in June!

Karin Bleeg '01's daughter, Aviva!

Mac Inglis '07 stopped in for a tour and was able to see John Dolan (Psychology, 1994-present).

Lisa Osborne Lange '74 P '09 (Graphic Designer, 2007-present), Tim Crumley '09 with his husband, Carlos, and John Dolan (Psychology, 1994-present).

Debbie Ginsburg Hoff '83 and Deb Weiss Walker '83 (Director of Development 2012-2017) stopped to pose under a picture of Bob Joslyn P '80, '83 (Physical Education, 1969-1996), dad to their classmate Laura '83.

Former faculty member, Linda Epstein (Lower School Student Support, 2016-2020) and Janet '08 recently lost a loved one. Corky Epstein, Linda's mother, passed away. Sybil Prince '00, P '37 (Hospice Educator 2007-present) coordinated a visit from three Harley students (Dom DiFrancesco '24, Wyatt Pinto '24, and Will Fiandach '24) to sing to Corky while she was in hospice.

Renee Hill GP '01, '06 turned 90 and she celebrated with a surprise party! "Ms. Renee" had tons of family and friends join her for the afternoon including former Kodak co-workers, Harley families, and plenty of Harley teachers!

Ms. Renee is a favorite to many Harley families including a couple whom she worked for privately, the Kurchin Family above (she took care of Addie '15, Rachel '09, and Ben '12) and the O'Brien Family (she took care of Wagso '27). Ms. Renee was a beloved member of the Harley Extended Day team from 2007-2020. She wanted me to share that she is so thankful to the people who let her care for their beautiful children. She loved every moment of her time with the kids!

Ms. Renee took care of my Leo '27 for many years when he participated in Harley's afterschool extended day program.

Karen Saludo P '27, Anne Townsend P '98, '01, GP '32, '34, and Ms. Renee. Renee also took care of Anne's grandkids, Georgia '33 and Henry '32, before she retired from Harley.