• ParkBulletinCover - The Park School

P A R K S C H O O L C L A S S O F 1 9 8 4 2 5 T H R E U N I O N B I O G R A P H I E S
After graduating from Boston University in art
history, I worked as an intern at Park School,
where I learned that the teachers I once had were
indeed regular people. After a year interning
with the delightful Ms. Fabre and Mrs. Platt, I
returned to Park for my first official paid job as a
Nursery School Assistant. I then went on to
teach at a Montessori school in Aspen, Colorado.
Two years followed in Providence, while my
husband, whom I met in Colorado, completed
his master’s at RISD. Then on to my own
graduate study in art history in Denver followed
by a move to Taos, N.M., where I work as curator
of education and public relations at a small
university art museum. I have been at the Harwood
Museum of Art for 11 years, and during
this time had two wonderful children, Maia
(2001) and Skyler (2007), names I pinched from
students I taught while at Park. In addition to
my human family, I have a horse, three dogs,
two cats, and enjoy returning to Boston and
Cape Cod twice a year to visit family, see how
fancy Boston has become, and stock up on shoes
and clothing from a place other than Wal-Mart
or Target.
Hannah Swett
I am living in New York City with my husband,
Mark Brookes. We are expecting a child in July.
I am working in the family real estate business.
We own and operate mostly commercial and
industrial space in Harlem and South Bronx with
some residential in Manhattan.
After leaving Park, I went on to graduate
from St. George’s School and Brown University.
After leaving Brown, I spent the majority of my
time competitive sailing around the world. Most
notably, I sailed the 1995 America’s Cup with
the Women’s Team and launched two Olympic
campaigns. Mark and I are based in NYC, but
spend as much time skiing in Jackson, Wyoming,
and biking in Jamestown, Rhode Island, as
possible!
Elena Wethers Thompson
Hello to all my Park classmates. I hope everyone
is doing well and is happy. I left Park at the
end of 8th grade and went to Winsor for high
school —along with a bunch of other former
Parkites —Kate Sullivan, Margie O’Brien, Nancy
Venator. After Winsor, I went to Wesleyan University
and majored in English. After graduation
I worked at the Boston Foundation but ultimately
went back to work at Wesleyan in Alumni
Relations, which is what I have been doing professionally
ever since 1992. I moved back to
Boston in 1998 and met my husband. He moved
up from Baltimore, and we married in October
2001. We have two beautiful, fun, and challenging
children, Tessa (4) and Ellis (2). We picked up
and moved back to Baltimore, my husband’s
hometown, in 2007 and are living just outside of
the city in a suburb called Owings Mills. My husband
is a teacher and director of service learning
for the Gilman School and I am the director of
alumni relations for the Johns Hopkins Carey
Business School. Life is full and busy. Baltimore
has been a big adjustment from Boston but
slowly I am settling in, but I still miss Boston and
Brookline!
I have been lucky to keep in touch with quite
a few old friends from Park (I see and talk to Alicia
Lancaster Silva and Jessica Pearlman most,
but also have stayed in touch with Kate Sullivan,
Nancy Venator, Margie O’Brien and Caron Lipsky
Savenor) and to have served on the Board at
Wesleyan and the Alumnae Board at Winsor,
which helps me stay connected to my former
New England life. Maybe it’s my professional life
seeping into my personal life, but I would LOVE
to see so many of you in person this spring! We
all spent so much time together and it has been
far too long since most of us have seen each
other or connected. It would be great to meet
your significant others and families too. I hope to
see many of you at our upcoming reunion. If not,
we’ve started a Park Class of 1984 group on
Facebook – it would be great to have others join
and reconnect virtually.
Laura Church Wilmerding
After graduating from Park in 1984, I attended
Pomfret School and St. Lawrence University. I
continued to play field hockey, ice hockey,
lacrosse, and majored in French and art history.
I spent my junior year in Paris, where I lived
with an incredible French family. They had three
children close to me in age, which made it especially
fun and good for my French. Studying art
history in Paris was a memorable experience. I
fell in love with city living in Paris. It gave me a
strong sense of independence.
After college, I moved to New York City and
worked in the decorating department of House
Beautiful and Country Living magazines. While at
House Beautiful, I developed an appreciation for
modern decorating and architecture. For eight
years, I loved living in New York, a wonderfully
diverse city rich in history and culture.
In 1996, I met my husband, Michael
Wilmerding. We married in 1999 and have two
wonderful children, Ben (8) and Sophie (6), both
of whom are at Park. It has been so much fun to
relive the Park School experience through their
eyes. We live in Chestnut Hill on the street where
my husband grew up. Michael is the owner of
Firefly Outfitters, a fly-fishing shop in downtown
Boston. Michael sells outdoor clothing, fly-fishing
equipment, and guides trips in Boston Harbor
and other destinations.
It has been 25 years since I graduated from
Park! My Park School memories include: making
a map of Africa out of oatmeal cookie dough and
decorating it with chocolate kisses for a social
studies project; passing notes and spending too
much time in the bathroom talking to friends in
7th grade; learning and loving the French language;
Mr. and Mme. Thibault; gymnastics
with Ms. Zifcak and participating in lots of sports
with Ms. Knight; Wordly Wise; Snack time being
held in the dining room with tons of Ritz crackers
spread out on the table for all; playing the
recorder in Morning Meeting; assigned seating
in the classroom by last name; Mr. Bourne and
Project R.E.A.S.O.N. in the rain; playing Fessenden
in ice hockey; lots of friends and supportive
teachers for 11 years! The friendships and
memories will last a lifetime.
Phoebe Gallagher Winder
A lot has happened in 25 years! After leaving
Park in the 8th grade, I went to Exeter, Vanderbilt,
then on to University of Michigan Law
School. So for about 11 years or so, I didn’t
spend a lot of time in Boston, and I lost touch
with many of my Park friends. In 1994, I finally
moved back to Boston to work at the law firm of
K&L Gates, where I’ve been for 15 years. I’m a
partner there, and I practice in the area of financial
services litigation, which, as you can imagine
in this day and age, keeps me really busy.
On the home front, I got married to Caleb
Winder six years ago. (He went to BB&N, and he
gets slightly miffed when I tell him Park is far
superior to BB&N). He works in venture capital
in the health sciences and medical area. We live
in Jamaica Plain – our house abuts Hellenic College,
near Jamaica Pond, so we live pretty close to
Park. We have two children, Avery (age 2.5) and
Charlie (9 months). Having two kids under the
age of three and working full time means our
lives are pretty insane at the moment, but we’re
really fortunate to have all of our parents living
close by to lend a hand.
I’m looking forward to our 25th Reunion.
Since most of us spent many years at Park, I feel
we got to know each other’s strengths and foibles
so well. Perhaps no one knows you as well as
your 6th grade classmate It will be great to
see where everyone’s landed, and how their lives
are going.
The Park Bulletin | Fall 2009 23