BrewsterConnections - Brewster Academy

The Class of 1986 extended a special invitation to Ed Rothfus, to whom they had
dedicated their yearbook. It was the first time he had visited in 25 years. “I will
never forget the great weekend with my family at Brewster,” wrote Ed about the
weekend. Alumni received individual videos of their yearbook, which they watched
on a large screen TV, bringing down the house with reels of laughter.
Class member Peter-Bruce Wassitsch and wife Ana Elissa traveled the longest
distance – from Nassau, Bahamas – to attend Reunion. Peter-Bruce had not been
back in 25 years but was obviously enjoying himself, pointing to the sailing team
banner hanging on the wall above him, which announced his team’s winning season.
Alumni All-School Assembly
Mike Cooper began the alumni assembly on Saturday by commenting on a remark
he often hears from alumni, which is that “Brewster has changed so much.” He
couldn’t disagree with this refrain; however, he reminded those in attendance that
if we didn’t change, we wouldn’t be the great school that we are today.
Celebrating their 25th Reunion at the Pinckney Boathouse were (back row)
Geraldine Griffin ‘86, former Headmaster David Smith, former faculty and alumni
icon Matt Hoopes, former admissions officer Sheila Smith, former faculty member
Ed Rothfus, Jaime Bonazoli ‘86, former faculty Doug Fallon, Head of School Mike
Cooper and Andrea Cooper. (front row) former faculty Shirley Richardson, Bjorn
Otterness ‘86, former faculty Mary Fallon, former faculty Bob Richardson, Betsy
(Lurie) Ross ‘86, Liddie (Kimball) Hayes ‘86, Rob Shickel ‘86, Kate (DeWitt) Nelson
‘86, faculty Bob Simoneau, and (kneeling) Peter-Bruce Wassitch ‘86.
Cooper, along with Lynne Palmer (P ’08, ’09, ’12), director of admission and
external affairs, and Matt Lawlor, athletics director, then shared some of Brewster’s
points of pride with those gathered.
In preparing students for college and careers, Brewster has a commitment to its
students to prepare them to achieve success and adapt in a rapidly changing world,
Cooper explained. This means evolving the curriculum to best position our students
for such success.
Part of Brewster’s curriculum evolution is educating the whole person by giving
students the skills to effectively relate to and work with individuals in all areas of
their lives. Extensive research on success and readiness in the workplace shows
that social and emotional intelligence is more important to professional success
than IQ, Cooper explained. Equipped with this knowledge and a partnership with
researchers at Yale University, Brewster is implementing an emotional intelligence
program to ensure that students have all the skills – academic, personal, and social
– necessary for success in a university or college and for life.
Palmer spoke about leadership athletics in the admission process. Explaining
that about 10 years ago Brewster made a decision to identify specific sports and
focus on recruiting both student-athletes and highly qualified coaches for these
teams. The sports are girls and boys’ soccer, basketball, ice hockey, and lacrosse.
Anyone who follows Bobcat sports knows that most of these teams have met with
considerable success in the past decade, including earning numerous New England
and Lakes Region League titles and even one national championship.
Enjoying the 1991 20th Reunion were (back row) Brian Corsi ‘91, Megeen
Simoneau ‘02, Hadley Clark ‘91, Heather Tarter ‘91, Susan (Aranosian) McTague
‘91, Beth Dales ‘91, Jen (Dabney) Nystrom ‘91, (front row) Henry Lord ‘91, Lee
Edwards ‘91, John Burfeind ‘91, Colin Douglass ‘91, and Max Holzman ‘91.
To see more photos or to purchase photos
from Reunion 2011, please go to:
www.brewsteracademy.org/Reunion2011