Woodstock School Alumni Magazine Vol CIV, 2011

Visitors on the hillside
Quadrangle - 11
Here at Woodstock we have visitors every day. We would like to share some of these visitors who have contributed
their talent to our wonderful community in the past twelve months. We offer just a glimpse of their visits and their
generosity.
Rahul Amin ‘71
In December
2010, Rahul Amin
hosted an alumni
gathering in Vadodara,
Gujarat, and
invited the Principal,
Dr David
Laurenson, and
Alumni Secretary
Monica Roberts
to join him. Rahul
had contacted
Monica beforehand
to discuss an idea. Realising how precious
the yearbooks were for all alumni and
worrying that the books were aging, he offered
to digitise them to make them available to
alumni and ensure their safety. Work began
and class years from 1970 to 2010 are now
completed, with work on the earlier books
under way. Rahul then visited Woodstock in
April and met with Ravi Narula, Head of Engineering
and Facilities. He offered through his
company to carry out environmental surveys;
audits began in September monitoring water,
energy, electric and sewerage. The reports will
enable us to make significant reductions in
operating costs by ensuring that all equipment
runs more efficiently.
Dan and Anne Lind (S)
The Music
department
and the Development
/Alumni
Office both
benefit
twice yearly
from the
visits of former staff Dan and Anne Lind.
Retirement in America in 2006 gave them
the freedom to spend some time in India and
specifically Woodstock. Keen to volunteer but
not sure what form it would take, Anne was
invited by Steve Alter ’74, then Development
Director, in the spring of 2009, to volunteer
in the Development Office. This worked
well alongside Anne’s work as President of
WOSA-NA. Dan had retired from teaching
but still had much to offer and began helping
part-time with the young string players in the
music department. He works with groups
and individuals, helping them to hone their
skills. After the initial visit the Linds now visit
and volunteer for two months twice yearly in
Spring and Fall. Head of Music Ravi Arthur
comments: “Dan brings a lot of experience,
but he also brings a lot of strings, sheet music
and essential accessories whenever he comes
– a very helpful service!” For her part, Anne
recently coordinated the WOSA- 100 Celebrations
in October 2011.
Vance George (S)
Vance was invited
to return to
Woodstock as a
Winterline Centre
for the Arts Artistin-Residence.
He
first taught over
fifty years ago at
Woodstock, but
has always maintained
his ties with
the school. The
music department
was thrilled to have an internationally recognised
choral director working with our
orchestras and choirs. With Fall concerts and
the annual Christmas concerts due, Vance’s
arrival in November 2010 took him straight
to rehearsals and workshops and individual
tuition for student musicians. Vance’s inspiring
presence and wonderful zest for life, food and
music enriched our campus for three weeks.
Although a two-time Grammy award winner,
Vance was naturally modest and his rapport
with students gave them even more of an opportunity
to develop their passion for music
and creativity.
Merryn Glover ‘87
Woodstock has
a record of producing
successful
authors, and
writer Merryn
Glover is no exception.
As part of
our immense pool
of gifted alumni
who constantly
give back to
Woodstock, Merryn
visited on her
extensive travels through Asia. Bringing her
husband and two sons, she was keen to revisit
her past and show her family the Woodstock
experience. She took time out to lead three
workshops on short story writing. An author,
playwright, teacher and poet, Merryn inspired
young students to follow their dream of becoming
writers and to remember to return to
Woodstock and share their expertise.
Jane Jolly
We are not exactly
easy to reach here
at Woodstock but
Australian author
of children’s
books, Jane Jolly,
still managed to
find her way here
in August on her
way to the Travelling
Children’s
Literature Festival.
Ms Jolly, a
teacher in Australia, read her children’s books
to Junior School students and donated copies
of her three published works to the library.
This time junior school learnt what it takes to
diligently persevere and become a published
author. The heroes in Ms Jolly’s books are
from multicultural backgrounds, as are the
students who sat transfixed in the library as
the stories came alive. Ms Jolly described
her experience as “incredible; Woodstock is
an amazing learning environment”. Ms Jolly
returned to Woodstock again in October 2011
with a Woodstock-inspired book soon to reach
the printers. Good Monkey, Bad Monkey is
the story of Rhesus and Langur monkeys that
she encountered on her first trip. The Langur
Patrol, the ‘good monkeys’, warn off the ‘bad’
or cheeky rhesus monkeys. Woodstock is very
proud to think that we have inspired a book
that Jane will no doubt return to read to a new
generation of Woodstock students.
The Woodstock community
benefits in many ways from the
visits of alumni and others.
Why not reach out to us with your
skills and talents?
Come back and visit us; you will be
assured of a very warm welcome.