Woodstock School Alumni Magazine Vol CIV, 2011

Around the sundial
Abhrajit Bhattacharjee ’92, Director of Development
Quadrangle - 3
JULY 2010: Thirty-nine eager new staff began
their new lives at Woodstock. Two of them
had been professional actresses. Four families
had children adopted from overseas: an
American family with daughters from China,
an Australian family withchildren from Colombia,
a Swedish family with children from
India who only spoke Swedish, and an Indian
family with a daughter born in Malaysia. Our
mosaic of cultural diversity kept growing!
One hundred new students also joined Woodstock
this year and the excited students and
parents crowded into the gym for orientation.
AUGUST: To coincide with Indian (and Korean)
Independence days, the annual Indian
Cultural Festival welcomed Shagun Butani
and her dance troupe who performed Chhau
and Odissi classical dances to an appreciative
school audience. Australian children’s author,
August: Indian regional dance
Jane Jolly, paid her first visit to Woodstock.
Jane, author of Limpopo Lullaby, Glass Tears
and Ali the Bold Heart, held readings and
visited classes and was inspired to write a
new book by our resident monkey population.
Independence Day was celebrated with a
“Bollywood” evening led by Danz’n’Buzz, a
professional dance troupe who visited Woodstock
as Artists in Residence at the Winterline
Centre for the Arts at Woodstock School. Students
from grades 1-12 shook their hips in the
gym to the strains of the latest Bollywood hits.
The school community was shaken by the
tragic news of the murder of Dan Terry,
’65 and parent, and Tom Little, parent, who
were part of a medical relief team that was
ambushed and killed in Afghanistan. These
two men risked their lives for decades to
bring medical aid to remote communities in
Afghanistan. WOSA mourned their passing
and hundreds of emails, online messages and
tributes which were shared with surviving
family members.
SEPTEMBER: Margaret ‘Midge’ Loehlin
Shafer ’56 and Ashoke Chatterjee ’51 were
recognised as members of the Distinguished
Alumni Roll in a ceremony in Parker Hall.
July: new staff enjoy the pool
Woodstock celebrated the accomplishments of
these two alumni, and students were inspired
by their personal accounts of their contributions
to social welfare, education, design and
development.
As the monsoon deluges continued, the
Woodstock girls swimming team brightened
up a dismal month by blitzing the pool at
Wynberg Allen School. The team came first
overall beating the other teams and bringing
home the cup. Woodstock’s swimming team
was reconstituted after decades thanks to the
opening of a refurbished swimming pool at the
renovated and restored Hostel, which opened
for boys earlier in the year.
The cross country team got almost as wet
when three attempts to host the inter-school
cross country meet at the top of the hill failed.
Finally on September 21 Woodstock students
raced against Wynberg Allen, Waverly Convent,
St George’s College and Oak Grove
School. Izaiah Vignali, Grade 5, broke the
record for the sub-junior boys by crossing the
winning line in 15.01 minutes.
In September we also inaugurated the Development
Associate Programme, where
select students were offered internships in
the Development Office. Twelve young Associates
began working shoulder-to-shoulder
with Development Office staff in the areas
of journalism, photography, photo-editing,
fundraising and alumni relations.
OCTOBER: Once the rains petered out,
some classes in the Junior School stopped by
the Turner Organic Garden to create planting
beds, clear weeds and plant produce. Based
on the principle that kids that are involved
in planting vegetables are more inclined to
August: Jane Jolly (right) and friend Marina Duffie
August: new student arrivals