BrewsterConnections(PDF) - Brewster Academy

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HOOPLA I often wondered if the concerns about it came more from efforts to define it here that I had no desire to move on to any other school, because I had landed rather than the program itself. I think it’s fair to say it was an initiative that took where I really wanted to be. hold and one that has served Brewster very well. At first, the attraction was a kinship with colleagues, Looking back over these past many years, I wonder how my life might have been different if I had never come to Brewster? I arrived at Brewster in 1987, having just turned 40. I was hardly a youngster, and I had some useful experience behind me. I had done enough things to know that teaching satisfied me more than anything else. It never occurred to me I knew by the end of my second year here that I had no desire to move on to any other school ... a feeling that the school was led by someone I truly respected, and the most wonderful bunch of students I had ever worked with. The attraction evolved into a changed perspective on what I really think great teaching is about, however. It isn’t about reading the right novels and mastering chemistry. It›s about what can happen to you while you are that I was actually still working at growing up. The people here, and community I doing that if you are in the right kind of school. I came to realize that, for me, joined, led me to discover what it feels like to completely invest, not just because making whatever contribution I could make as a teacher would come from I wanted to do a good job, or because I really like kids, but because every person joining a community, committing to it, and working through the magical kind of I worked with was part of my community. I knew by the end of my second year fellowship that happens when you do that. Gail Antonucci ’61, Bobcat Since 1985 Payroll and Benefits Coordinator Nearly 25 years after graduating from Brewster, Gail Antonucci left her job as deputy town clerk of Wolfeboro and returned to Brewster to work in the Business Office. She enjoyed reconnecting with her former teachers when they called with questions regarding payroll or retirement plans. At this time, the Business Office was located in what is now the Academic Building conference room and the faculty room was located in what is now the Dean of Students’ Office. Here faculty would come for coffee, donuts, and cigarettes, she explained. As the number of students increased, the Business Office moved to the Goodwin Building and finally to its present location in Cate House on South Main Street. Gail noted that by moving out of the Academic Building, she and her office workers lost the closeness to the students that they had all enjoyed. As the workload increased, more Business Office employees were hired, whom Gail trained, while she continued her role as payroll and benefits coordinator. Over the past 27 years Gail has been both proud and pleased to represent Brewster Academy to the community in which she has lived all of her life. She loves her work, the people with whom she’s worked, the school itself – and golfing in the Bobcat Open! 32 BrewsterConnections – Spring 2012
Bob Simoneau, Bobcat Since 1985 Foreign Language Teacher, Business Manager 1986-2009 Bob Simoneau’s long trek from California to New Hampshire in a 10-year-old VW Microbus was just the beginning of a long, exciting, and continuing Brewster career. Bob had spent every summer between 1950 and 1972 at his parents’ summer home in nearby Ossipee. During the early summer of 1985, his cousin, local businessman Cliff Simoneau, introduced Bob to Headmaster David Smith, noting that in addition to teaching French, Latin, and Spanish, Bob also had a background in public municipal financing at the state and local school levels. It wasn’t long after that that Bob received a job offer to teach Latin and Spanish part-time at Brewster. Bob, his wife, Maureen, Andre (13), Paulo (9), Maureen’s son Michael (5), and their daughter Megeen (18 months), along with their Italian greyhound, Wags, piled into their 1975 VW pop-top camper and their 1976 Toyota Corona and began the cross-country trip to New Hampshire. Although the VW camper broke down in Wyoming and they had to rent a truck to tow it (they were sleeping in it at night), the Simoneau family arrived on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee just six days late. With a resume that included assistant superintendent of schools for the Compton Unified School District and deputy director of the Office of Economic Opportunities for then California Governor Jerry Brown, it was not long before Bob was tapped for the assistant business position. Within a year, he became the business manager for the Academy. “When I first arrived, I found the setting of the campus on the edge of the lake to be charming, but once I became assistant business manager, I became very familiar with the amount of deferred maintenance. With student admissions growing in excess of 25 percent per year, the new dorms, now Spencer, Mason, Hughes, Vaughan, Lamb, and Harris were quickly constructed.” Prior to leaving San Pedro, California, Bob and Maureen had purchased an old church parsonage in Wolfeboro Falls, which they moved into on their arrival. They had planned to eventually run it as a B&B, however, changes in the town’s zoning laws did not allow the B&B to become a reality. Instead of hosting tourists, the parsonage became an off-campus dormitory, and in the 12 years they remained owners, Bob and Maureen were dorm parents to 48 students. For 17 years David Smith and Bob worked closely together, taking on the financial master plan, investing in a rainy day fund, working with the state legislature to permit non-profit schools to use municipal bonding, and working to ensure financial viability for the Academy. This included bond refinancing, enabling the completion of the Wilson Center, renovating family and student housing, and the expansion of the Estabrook Dining Hall and the Spaulding-Emerson Student Center. For the past 12 years, Bob and Maureen have been dorm parents in Holmes House (more commonly referred to as Simoneau House). Since stepping down from his position as business manager in 2009, Bob has returned to his love of teaching languages, and Maureen continues in her role as assistant librarian. Brewster Academy is indeed fortunate to have had the services of this devoted couple, and is fortunate that both continue to work with students. 27 Years by the Numbers: 9,000 classes taught 275 ELS classes taught 10 languages spoken www.brewsteracademy.org 33
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Page 4 and 5: Reflecting on the Relevancy of Earl
Page 6 and 7: Emotions Matter The Relevancy and A
Page 8 and 9: Projects Shaping Senior Year By Mar
Page 10 and 11: Project-Based Learning Evolves have
Page 12 and 13: Project-Based Learning Evolves From
Page 14 and 15: Dr. Cooper, a Klingenstein Fellow I
Page 16 and 17: My Greatest Brewster Moment In cele
Page 18 and 19: Living the Dream, Brendan Quirk ’
Page 20 and 21: Staying Connected Whether you are a
Page 22 and 23: Newsmakers Artists’ Work Selected
Page 24 and 25: Trey Whitfield ’89 Memorial Celeb
Page 26 and 27: Brewster On The Road Europe October
Page 28 and 29: By Kristy Kerin This year Brewster
Page 30 and 31: HOOPLA by Matt Hoopes The Quarter-C
Page 32 and 33: HOOPLA Lynne Palmer, Bobcat Since 1
Page 36 and 37: HOOPLA Kate Turner, Bobcat Since 19
Page 38 and 39: HOOPLA Kim Ross, Bobcat Since 1987
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Page 42 and 43: Class Notes and fossil hunting in N
Page 44 and 45: Class Notes Mark Wong ‘92, Lauren
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Page 48 and 49: History History History History Wri
Page 50 and 51: multipurpose athletic and recreatio
Page 52: Brewster Academy 80 Academy Drive W

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