Ecolint - Newsletter.indd
Ecolint - Newsletter.indd
Ecolint - Newsletter.indd
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1<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
SPRING 2005<br />
In last year’s annual Director-<br />
General’s report I wrote that the year<br />
2003-2004 had been one in which<br />
the school community had reflected<br />
on what it felt were its distinctive<br />
characteristics and where it wanted to<br />
go in the future. It was a year in which<br />
we looked again at the Foundation’s<br />
vision, explored issues of governance<br />
and communication and developed a<br />
strategic plan to guide our work over<br />
the next few years. The present school<br />
year, by contrast, is proving a year of<br />
action in which we begin to put in<br />
place the measures on which we have<br />
agreed.<br />
At the centre of this year’s action<br />
is the creation of our new campus at<br />
Grand-Saconnex: the Campus des<br />
Nations. What prompted, some years<br />
ago now, the decision to construct a<br />
new campus was the growing difficulty<br />
experienced by members of the<br />
international and local community<br />
in finding places for their children<br />
within the school. One of the main<br />
effects of the new campus should be to<br />
reduce pressures on places elsewhere<br />
in the Foundation and make it easier<br />
in particular for us to find places for<br />
whole families when they first arrive in<br />
Geneva. Although competition for our<br />
places is less severe now than it was a<br />
few years ago, and will improve further<br />
with the opening of the new campus,<br />
there is still a widespread view that<br />
it is impossible to get one’s children<br />
into the International School. We will<br />
be combating this view over the next<br />
few months with a media campaign<br />
designed to remind people that, after<br />
eighty years of service to the Geneva<br />
community, we still exist, that we have<br />
places, and that we are about to open<br />
a splendid new campus.<br />
La construction du Grand- Saconnex<br />
a maintenant atteint un stade avancé,<br />
dans les délais prévus pour son<br />
ouverture en septembre 2005, et<br />
toujours en parfaite conformité avec le<br />
budget annoncé. J’ai mis mon casque<br />
de chantier l’autre jour pour faire<br />
un tour complet du bâtiment. C’est<br />
une construction impressionnante:<br />
lumineuse, claire, spacieuse, où il est<br />
ALUMNI<br />
NEWSLETTER<br />
LA GRANDE BOISSIÈRE • LA CHÂTAIGNERAIE • PREGNY-RIGOT • MIES<br />
ECOLINT EXPANDS ....<br />
CAMPUS DES NATIONS<br />
Campus des Nations – March 2005<br />
Nouvelles du Directeur général<br />
aisé de se déplacer et de se réunir. Ce<br />
sera un cadre stimulant pour les futurs<br />
élèves qui y seront instruits. Les étages<br />
supérieurs offrent des points de<br />
vue magnifiques: au nord, sur le bel<br />
arboretum de l’Ambassade du Brésil<br />
et au sud, surtout si l’on parvient à<br />
faire abstraction (je sais que ce n’est<br />
Dates des Kermesses<br />
La Grande Boissière :<br />
28 mai 2005<br />
Pregny-Rigot :<br />
4 juin 2005<br />
La Châtaigneraie :<br />
11 juin 2005<br />
pas facile) du bâtiment du BIT à<br />
gauche, sur le Jet d’Eau, les Voirons et<br />
le Mont-Blanc.<br />
Le nouveau campus inclura le<br />
nouveau site de Saconnex et Pregny.<br />
Ce dernier accueillera les enfants de<br />
3 à 7 ans (jusqu’au terme de la classe<br />
de seconde) et Saconnex, les enfants<br />
cont’d on page 2<br />
Mark your Calendars<br />
10-12 June 2005: La Châtaigneraie<br />
Special Alumni Reunion<br />
(see page 4)<br />
27 – 31 July 2006: Colorado Reunion<br />
The members of the Rocky Mountain<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong> Alumni Chapter are pleased<br />
to announce that the 2006 Reunion<br />
will be held in the Colorado<br />
Rockies at Copper Mountain Resort,<br />
Colorado, USA – See you there !!<br />
(see page 5)<br />
photo : Sue Anthony
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 2<br />
de 8 ans et plus. La première année,<br />
le site de Saconnex recevra des élèves<br />
jusqu’à l’âge de 16 ans (classe de 11 e ),<br />
que viendront rejoindre les deux<br />
années terminales, successivement en<br />
septembre 2006 et en septembre 2007.<br />
Pregny subira des transformations au<br />
cours de l’été pour offrir des lieux<br />
mieux adaptés à des enfants en bas<br />
âge. Au bout du compte, ce sont 960<br />
élèves au total qui fréquenteront le<br />
campus.<br />
At the same time as the new campus<br />
opens both Rigot and Mies will close.<br />
Both schools have contributed<br />
massively to the education provided<br />
by the Foundation. Many alumni will<br />
have begun their schooling at Rigot<br />
and will have fond memories of it.<br />
Mies is of course a much more recent<br />
addition, but has been a huge success<br />
and, in its short history, will also have<br />
left behind many lasting memories.<br />
We hope to mark the closing of both<br />
schools with ceremonies at the end of<br />
the school year.<br />
One of the major issues facing us<br />
in the new campus has been what<br />
educational programmes it should<br />
adopt. Given the diversity of practice<br />
within the existing schools of the<br />
Foundation we obviously had a choice.<br />
The decision has been to adopt the<br />
programmes of the International<br />
Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO)<br />
throughout. We will therefore be<br />
following its Primary Years Progamme<br />
(PYP), Middle Years Programme<br />
(MYP) and, once the top two years have<br />
been added, the IB Diploma. This is<br />
highly appropriate, I think, in a school<br />
that helped set up the IB Diploma<br />
and the IBO, and in a new campus<br />
that has as its immediate neighbour<br />
the international headquarters of the<br />
IBO. The programmes offered at the<br />
school will be primarily anglophone,<br />
as that is where the greatest demand<br />
exists.<br />
Pour perpétuer les traditions<br />
de bilinguisme de la Fondation,<br />
le français fera l’objet d’un<br />
enseignement plus poussé qu’une<br />
simple langue étrangère. Tous les<br />
efforts seront déployés pour que les<br />
élèves maîtrisent la langue française<br />
à l’heure de quitter l’école. Nous<br />
offrirons en plus à tous les élèves de<br />
l’école secondaire la possibilité de<br />
suivre certaines matières en français si<br />
leurs parents le souhaitent.<br />
The new campus has a small team<br />
already in place planning every aspect<br />
of its functioning, headed by the new<br />
campus principal Mrs Lesley Stagg.<br />
Staff and students are being recruited,<br />
resources are being ordered, and a<br />
myriad of decisions being made about<br />
the timetable and the daily life of<br />
the school. The new campus will be<br />
different in some respects from any<br />
other existing part of the Foundation.<br />
Its creation, we hope, will make<br />
for livelier debates and exchanges<br />
across the whole Foundation. It will<br />
be established very firmly, however,<br />
within the <strong>Ecolint</strong> tradition and carry<br />
forward all the values and emphases<br />
that, over eighty years, have made our<br />
school the very distinctive place that<br />
it has become. I very much hope that<br />
some of you may be able to visit it once<br />
it is open and hard hats are no longer<br />
de rigueur.<br />
Meanwhile we continue to be active<br />
on a whole variety of fronts on our<br />
existing campuses, not least with plans<br />
for a number of major improvement<br />
projects. But that will have to be the<br />
subject of another newsletter.<br />
I wish you all the very best for the<br />
remainder of 2005.<br />
Nicholas Tate<br />
Director-General<br />
Elections au Conseil de<br />
Fondation – 2005<br />
Les membres souhaitant voter par<br />
la poste pour les élections 2005 du<br />
Conseil de Fondation doivent remplir<br />
et renvoyer le formulaire d’inscription<br />
au Bureau des Anciens. Le matériel<br />
de vote vous sera envoyé afin que vous<br />
puissiez le remplir.<br />
L’Assemblée générale consultative<br />
du Conseil de Fondation aura lieu<br />
le mardi 24 mai 2005 à 20h00 à La<br />
Châtaigneraie, Nouveau Bâtiment, 1 er<br />
étage (Salle Polyvalente 1), chemin de<br />
la Ferme, 1297 Founex.<br />
Elections to the<br />
Governing Board – 2005<br />
Members wishing to vote by post in<br />
the 2005 Elections to the Governing<br />
Board should complete and return<br />
the registration form to the Alumni<br />
Office.<br />
The voting documention will<br />
then be forwarded to you for your<br />
completion.<br />
The Governing Board Consultative<br />
General Assembly will be held on<br />
Tuesday, 24 May 2005 at 20h00 at La<br />
Châtaigneraie, New Building, 1st floor<br />
(Salle Polyvalente 1), chemin de la<br />
Ferme, 1297 Founex.<br />
Venez nombreux nous<br />
rejoindre !<br />
Assemblée générale de<br />
l’Association des Anciens<br />
La prochaine Assemblée générale de<br />
l’Association des Anciens de l’Ecole<br />
Internationale de Genève aura lieu<br />
à La Grande Boissière le samedi 28<br />
mai 2005 – jour de la Kermesse – à 11<br />
heures, dans l’ancienne bibliothèque<br />
devenue l’actuel Salon des Professeurs<br />
dans l’Orangerie.<br />
A l’issue de cette réunion, vous êtes<br />
tous attendus au stand des Anciens<br />
pour le traditionnel ‘verre de l’amitié’<br />
offert par le Comité central.
President’s message<br />
3<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
It’s just over three months since I<br />
sat down to write my article for the<br />
November <strong>Newsletter</strong> and I have<br />
been asking myself what has changed<br />
since then. For the Association, this is<br />
a period of necessary reorganisation.<br />
Having negotiated a Memorandum of<br />
Understanding with the Foundation<br />
(the governing body that runs the<br />
three school campuses) we are<br />
now starting to put it into practice.<br />
Needless to say there are many<br />
details that need ironing out but<br />
with goodwill on both sides we are<br />
making excellent progress. Working<br />
closely with the Development Office<br />
we have started the onerous task of<br />
cleaning and integrating our various<br />
databases. I would like to take this<br />
opportunity to thank Sue Anthony<br />
who has been hard at work on what<br />
is a very unglamorous but absolutely<br />
essential project, since an accurate<br />
database is the cornerstone of<br />
virtually all our activities. Fortunately<br />
the Development Office has recently<br />
appointed Christine de Loriol<br />
(christine.deloriol@ecolint.ch) as<br />
communications attaché and she will<br />
be adding to the resources of the<br />
Alumni Office, focusing in the first<br />
instance on the database and then on<br />
our next major project, updating the<br />
alumni website. The result of all this<br />
hard work will be a better more proactive<br />
service for our alumni members<br />
throughout the world.<br />
Despite the time & effort involved in<br />
these administrative projects alumni<br />
activities have continued a pace<br />
thanks to enthusiastic alumni around<br />
the world. Successful Escalade dinners<br />
were held in Denver, Geneva, London,<br />
New York, Sydney, and Washington<br />
DC. The traditional “B.E.E.R” reunion<br />
was held at the Pickwick Pub here in<br />
Geneva just before Christmas with a<br />
good showing of alumni from both La<br />
Grande Boissière and La Châtaigneraie<br />
campuses. There are also a number of<br />
upcoming events, including:<br />
The La Châtaigneraie reunion will<br />
be held on Friday, 10 June, Saturday,<br />
11 June and perhaps Sunday, 12<br />
June. Please see page 4 for more<br />
information and the website is www.lachat.ch.<br />
The LGB class of ’72 are holding<br />
an informal get-together in<br />
Southampton, UK, this summer<br />
on the weekend of July 9-10. The<br />
proposed venue is Chilworth Manor<br />
(contact Ratko Djukanovic for details<br />
R. Djukanovic@soton.ac.uk)<br />
The Rocky Mountain <strong>Ecolint</strong> Alumni<br />
Chapter of the Alumni Association has<br />
announced plans for a reunion next<br />
year which will be held the weekend<br />
of July 27-31 2006 in the Colorado<br />
Rockies at Copper Mountain Resort.<br />
(see page 5).<br />
For those involved in the International<br />
School today the last three<br />
months have presented the usual<br />
continual challenges. The construction<br />
of the Campus des Nations continues<br />
according to schedule and is due<br />
to open in September this year and<br />
will provide much needed places for<br />
those students who attend the Pregny<br />
Primary School as well as catering for<br />
the increasing numbers of students<br />
coming to Geneva each year.<br />
The existing campuses of La Grande<br />
Boissière and La Châtaigneraie are not<br />
being ignored though. The Governing<br />
Board has approved a major capital<br />
development programme to improve<br />
facilities on both campuses some of<br />
which are badly in need of updating.<br />
Given the extent of the program, the<br />
Foundation will need to supplement<br />
available capital resources with a<br />
fundraising campaign. This will be<br />
targeted at, amongst others, those of<br />
you who would like to help <strong>Ecolint</strong><br />
improve the quality of the educational<br />
facilities offered to today’s students.<br />
Of course the International School<br />
is not just about bricks and mortar<br />
but also about ideas and ideals. One<br />
of the strange things about being<br />
both a parent of a current student<br />
as well as an alumnus is that, while I<br />
am very aware of the many changes<br />
that have taken place over the years, I<br />
also frequently have a sense of déjà-vu<br />
which convinces me that the <strong>Ecolint</strong><br />
spirit is alive and well. Just before<br />
Christmas my daughter represented<br />
Nicaragua at The Students League of<br />
Nations (many of you will remember<br />
this as the S.U.N), and talking with<br />
her about the experience it was clear<br />
that students still struggle to leave<br />
their own ideals behind and adopt<br />
the rather more pragmatic positions<br />
of the countries they represent, and<br />
while the SLN now involves more<br />
schools it remains much the same<br />
institution as it was when Bob Leach<br />
founded it back in 1953.<br />
In any case change can also be<br />
a positive thing. Class 13 have<br />
just finished their mock IB exams<br />
(remember those) But while the<br />
pre-exam nerves remain the same<br />
the International Baccalaureate has<br />
changed considerably. When I sat<br />
mine in 1972 we were only the second<br />
year to sit the full diploma and the<br />
concern then was whether sufficient<br />
universities would recognize the<br />
fledgling system to make it a success.<br />
Today the International Baccalaureate<br />
is one of the most recognized<br />
educational diplomas worldwide its<br />
success a lasting testimony to the faith<br />
that parents & teachers of the time<br />
had in the ideals of an international<br />
education. As an active Alumni body<br />
we can play a part in keeping the spirit<br />
of innovation that led to the creation<br />
of the IB alive for future generations.<br />
Sam Jarrell/72<br />
Very important !!<br />
Alumni Website<br />
We urge you to visit our website :<br />
www.ecolint-alumni.ch<br />
and register with the ONLINE<br />
DIRECTORY and the THREE<br />
ALUMNI LISTSERVES
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 4<br />
Reunion at La Châtaigneraie<br />
10 - 12 June 2005<br />
Dates for your diary ....<br />
Dear Global Alumni and friends,<br />
We are getting another Alumni<br />
reunion off the road at the LA<br />
CHATAIGNERAIE campus!!! The<br />
80’s Alumni have got back together<br />
with some vital input from La Chât.<br />
staff. Cheers Phil Hill/82, Ian<br />
Cogswell-Prince/81 for the students<br />
and Béatrice Hoesli, Gus Ritson, Liz<br />
Whitehead and Michel Chinal for the<br />
Staff (and students of course). The<br />
concept is a very relaxed get together<br />
over the 2 day period, but orientated<br />
around the Kermesse.<br />
Friday 10th June:<br />
Given the welcome and the ample<br />
food last summer, we are returning to<br />
the Relais de Chavannes for dinner,<br />
the village being just up the road from<br />
the campus.<br />
Saturday 11th June:<br />
Kermesse on campus starting 11h00<br />
with the traditional food stalls, kiddy<br />
entertainment, dance shows and<br />
plenty to entertain all age groups.<br />
The Kermesse will officially be over at<br />
16h00 - but starting at approx. 14h00<br />
and just around the corner, where<br />
the former tennis courts were..., lies<br />
the Alumni AREA and Alumni with<br />
kids area. There will be a Barbecue,<br />
drinks, live band and DJ and the time<br />
will be ours.<br />
We have left the Sunday open for<br />
improvisation on a picnic, brunch or<br />
any other indecent proposal.<br />
If you will be or can be around La<br />
Chât. that weekend come along and<br />
why not bring some classmates with<br />
you. You know, it could be worse than<br />
a lazy June weekend staring at Lake<br />
Geneva!<br />
If you are able to help us join<br />
up with other La Chât. alumni, do<br />
e-mail this invitation on to them.<br />
We are always looking for ‘lost’<br />
alumni and for people to help us<br />
coordinate different year groups : if<br />
you are interested please contact us at<br />
alumni@ecolint.ch .<br />
The booking form and hotel<br />
information will be available on the<br />
website www.ecolint-alumni.ch.<br />
Other than that, best wishes, be<br />
safe wherever you are and see you in<br />
June!!!<br />
Leona Godfrey/84<br />
lsfge@hotmail.com<br />
Web edition<br />
Phil Hill/83, Sarah Lambert/84 and Leona Godfrey/84<br />
GENEVA ESCALADE – for text see page 6<br />
photo: Isabelle Albrow/84<br />
A web edition of this ‘<strong>Newsletter</strong>’ has<br />
been posted on the Alumni website<br />
at :<br />
www.ecolint-alumni.ch<br />
Une version internet de cette<br />
‘<strong>Newsletter</strong>’ peut être consultée sur<br />
le site des anciens : www.ecolintalumni.ch<br />
Genève: Luc Hamzavi, Jo Jennings and<br />
Isabelle Gilliéron/82<br />
Genève: Arlette d’Amico, Hélène Forneris, Monique Florimond, Les Wise,<br />
Marie-Françoise Polliand and Nicholas Tate
Colorado Reunion<br />
27 - 31 July 2006<br />
5<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
Dear <strong>Ecolint</strong> Community,<br />
The Rocky Mountain <strong>Ecolint</strong> Alumni<br />
Chapter is pleased to announce the<br />
site and date of the 2006 <strong>Ecolint</strong><br />
Reunion. It will be the weekend of<br />
July 27-31 in the Colorado Rockies at<br />
Copper Mountain Resort. Copper is<br />
a small mountain resort 90 minutes<br />
west of Denver off I-70. Through local<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong> contacts, we were able to get<br />
excellent room/condo rates which<br />
will be available from July 24 to August<br />
6 for those interested in pairing the<br />
reunion with a family vacation.<br />
Included in the room /condo prices<br />
are free parking, spa, pool, and workout<br />
room. Copper offers a multitude<br />
of activities; hiking, horse-back riding,<br />
white water rafting, golf, tennis, and<br />
shopping. A free shuttle is available to<br />
towns in Summit County most notably<br />
the historic town of Breckenridge<br />
perfect for an afternoon of quaint<br />
shops and restaurants and the factory<br />
outlet at Silverthorn, an excellent<br />
bargain for those powerful Euros.<br />
We encourage <strong>Ecolint</strong>ers around<br />
the world to mark their calendars and<br />
make plans for a memorable reunion<br />
with old friends in the Colorado<br />
Rockies. For those interested in a<br />
virtual tour of Copper please go to:<br />
www.coppercolorado.com. If you<br />
know of <strong>Ecolint</strong>ers not online or who<br />
do not read their emails, please share<br />
this information with them.<br />
Warmest regards to all,<br />
Pennie Aldrich/65<br />
Rocky Mountain <strong>Ecolint</strong> Chapter<br />
Room & Condo Rates<br />
available at Copper<br />
Mountain Resort<br />
Hotel Rooms:<br />
Bronze 92.00<br />
Silver 98.00<br />
Gold 106.00<br />
1 Bedroom Condos:<br />
Bronze 105.00<br />
Silver 122.00<br />
Gold 130.00<br />
2 Bedroom Condos:<br />
Bronze 150.00<br />
Silver 191.00<br />
Gold 220.00<br />
3 Bedroom Condos:<br />
Bronze 252.00<br />
Silver 269.00<br />
Gold 289.00<br />
Beds in all hotel rooms and condo<br />
bedrooms come in a variety of sizes;<br />
king-size, 2 queen-size, 2 doublesize,<br />
and 2 twin-size. Reservations for<br />
specific sizes are based on availability.<br />
All condos have full kitchens and living<br />
rooms with queen-size sleeper sofas.<br />
Rates are based, per night, on room<br />
or condo size NOT OCCUPANCY.<br />
Those of us who would like to double,<br />
triple, or quadruple up to save money,<br />
have that option. Reservations can<br />
be made by contacting Copper<br />
Mountain via the website given above<br />
and identifying yourself with the<br />
International School.<br />
U.S. Midwest States<br />
Alumni Group<br />
The Alumni Association, together with<br />
Sergio Mazza, is trying to encourage<br />
the formation of a US Midwest states<br />
regional alumni group. The intent is<br />
to organize occasional alumni events<br />
such as the Escalade dinners that have<br />
been such a great success in cities<br />
around the world, and possibly a<br />
local “kermesse” or a regional alumni<br />
reunion.<br />
“There are times when it would<br />
be wonderful to reconnect with old<br />
friends or simply others that have<br />
shared the <strong>Ecolint</strong> experience and still<br />
share the spirit, without the need to<br />
physically travel back to Switzerland.<br />
I attended Escalade dinners in<br />
California and New York and would<br />
love to see the tradition take hold in<br />
Detroit.” – Sergio Mazza /76 LGB.<br />
All <strong>Ecolint</strong> Alumni in the states of<br />
Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana<br />
interested in participating in future<br />
local events please contact Sergio at<br />
sergiomazza@comcast.net.<br />
REUNION FEES<br />
Registration $40.00<br />
Events Fee (Friday Evening Reception<br />
& Saturday Dinner Dance)<br />
Registration instructions will be<br />
available at a later date.<br />
$90.00
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 6<br />
Around the World with the Escalade<br />
December 2004<br />
Photos : Nick Hembrow/81<br />
Denver<br />
The annual Denver Escalade was<br />
held once again at the clubhouse of<br />
Bruce Barta’s /73 in-laws. The group<br />
was treated to a combination cheese<br />
- meat fondue dinner.<br />
The highlight of the evening was<br />
as usual the singing of Escalade<br />
songs, and the breaking of our<br />
Geneva marmite. Breakers this year<br />
were Sonny Massey, mother of Judy<br />
Ackerman/70, Lori Ackerman/73<br />
and Marloes Miller/95. In addition to<br />
our regular gathering we also had an<br />
out of state guest from Washington,<br />
Judy Howenstine/65. Judy enjoyed<br />
the evening so much she vowed to<br />
check out the Seattle group next<br />
Escalade.<br />
A very festive evening was had by<br />
all and we look forward to next year’s<br />
Escalade.<br />
Pennie Aldrich/65<br />
London: Breaking the marmite: Felicity<br />
Clemens, Michaelene Stack, Sundiatu<br />
Dixon-Fyle and Roger Murray.<br />
London: l. to r.: Agnes de Guzman<br />
and husband Antonio Borges, Joanna<br />
Clemens, Nicolas Bonard, Robin Dormer,<br />
Nick Hembrow.<br />
Geneva<br />
Former and present administration<br />
and teaching staff joined the alumni<br />
for the traditional Alumni Escalade<br />
dinner held on 8 December in the<br />
cafeteria at La Grande Boissière.<br />
We were about 90 present and it was<br />
as usual an opportunity for the Alumni<br />
to thank those teachers who retired in<br />
2004 after many years service. Sam<br />
Jarrell presided over the festivities, Dr.<br />
Nicholas Tate graciously presented the<br />
honorary diplomas, and Luc Hamzavi<br />
took us through the stirring events of<br />
1602 in masterly style. Thanks as ever<br />
to Jo Jennings for leading us in the<br />
Escalade victory songs.<br />
Richard Vyvyan/01<br />
Les anciens et actuels membres de<br />
l’administration et les professeurs<br />
nous ont rejoint pour le traditionnel<br />
dîner de l’Escalade qui s’est déroulé à<br />
la cafétéria de La Grande Boissière.<br />
Avec près de 90 participants, ce<br />
dîner était à nouveau l’occasion<br />
pour les anciens de remercier les<br />
professeurs qui ont pris leur retraite<br />
en 2004 après de nombreuses années<br />
d’enseignement. Sam Jarrell a présidé<br />
les festivités, Dr. Nicholas Tate a remis<br />
les diplômes honorifiques et Luc<br />
Hamzavi nous emmena magistralement<br />
dans les événements passionnants<br />
de 1602. Encore un grand merci<br />
à Jo Jennings de nous avoir guidés<br />
dans les chansons victorieuses de<br />
l’Escalade.<br />
Photos de l’Escalade à Genève<br />
page 4<br />
London: Agnes de Guzman and husband<br />
Antonio Borges, Joanna and Felicity<br />
Clemens.<br />
London<br />
The recently-formed UK alumni<br />
chapter organised an extremely<br />
enjoyable Escalade dinner at the St<br />
Moritz restaurant in London’s Soho<br />
district on Wednesday, 8 December.<br />
It had been quite a few years since<br />
any such event had been held in the<br />
UK and all who took part were agreed<br />
that it should become a regular event<br />
in future.<br />
Chapter members Agnes de<br />
Guzman/90 and Nicolas Bonard/89<br />
ably organised the dinner, attended<br />
by some 15 UK-based alumni and<br />
their partners. It was especially nice<br />
that the participants were more<br />
recent <strong>Ecolint</strong> graduates, along with<br />
a few older stagers! The UK chapter<br />
was also delighted that <strong>Ecolint</strong>’s new<br />
development director, Michaelene<br />
Stack, was able to come from Geneva<br />
especially to take part. This gave her<br />
a first opportunity to meet a group of<br />
alumni in a social setting and judging<br />
by the animated conversation that<br />
marked her part of the table they<br />
enjoyed the chance of meeting her so<br />
soon after she had taken on the job<br />
formerly held by Scott Lane.<br />
The other participants included<br />
Roger Murray/67, Robin Dormer/<br />
68, Nick Hembrow/81 plus wife<br />
Penny, Helen Storckmeijer/89 and<br />
her partner, Sundiatu Dixon-Fyle/86,<br />
Fabrice Bourelly/90, Laura Anson/<br />
90 plus partner Jay, Agnes’ husband<br />
Antonio Borges, Joanna Clemens/90<br />
and her younger sister Felicity/92.<br />
The St Moritz is the only Swiss<br />
restaurant in central London and<br />
therefore the ideal venue for such<br />
an event – Swiss cheese fondue was,<br />
unsurprisingly, the menu choice for<br />
most, although Bratwurst sausages<br />
and rösti was another popular choice.<br />
The large Marmite sent over by the<br />
Alumni Office – many were pleased<br />
Sue had chosen dark rather than milk<br />
chocolate – was broken in traditional<br />
manner by the oldest and youngest<br />
at the table, respectively Roger and<br />
Felicity. The chocolate and marzipan<br />
vegetables all disappeared in about<br />
5 minutes – most had chosen not to<br />
take a dessert to leave enough room!<br />
Roger Murray/67
New York<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong> NE Alumni held its Escalade<br />
bash on December 13, 2004 in New<br />
York City at our favorite wine-cellarlike<br />
location, the back room of<br />
French restaurant, Tout Va Bien. The<br />
event was extremely well attended<br />
by a combination of regulars and<br />
new members, some of whom have<br />
just moved here. It was a great,<br />
fun-filled evening to catch up on<br />
news, make new acquaintances and<br />
celebrate the 402nd anniversary<br />
of Escalade! The marmite, kindly<br />
supplied by the Alumni Association<br />
in Geneva, was smashed per tradition.<br />
Peggy Troupin/60<br />
Sydney<br />
Sydney Alumni celebrated Escalade<br />
at the University and Schools Club<br />
- where I think we are regarded as<br />
the most exotic of the members -<br />
on December 10, 2004. Those who<br />
braved the weather - Marcus Sherwood<br />
arrived by motorbike, dripping wet<br />
- (“It was a dark and stormy night...”)<br />
and savoured the marzipan provided<br />
by the Alumni Association included:<br />
Alex Buzo/62, Janet Dawson/74,<br />
Robert Horninge/74, Fiona Manning/<br />
83, Susan Norbom/80, Ariella Ryner/<br />
92, Christine Sherwood/80, Marcus<br />
Sherwood/79 and Ann Tothill/79.<br />
Alex Buzo/62<br />
7<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
Washington DC<br />
The 2004 Washington DC Escalade<br />
Reunion for the International School<br />
of Geneva took place on December 11<br />
2004 at “The Melting Pot” - the one<br />
restaurant in the region that serves<br />
fondue. The Alumni Association<br />
kindly went to great lengths to send<br />
us an authentic commemorative<br />
chocolate ‘Marmite’.<br />
Attendees – some accompanied by<br />
guests, spouses or children were:<br />
Franz Oppenheimer/37 LGB, Patty<br />
Moran Steelman/63 LGB, David<br />
Williams/68 LGB, Shanta Devarajan/<br />
71 LGB, Yukiko Omura/73 LGB,<br />
Jeff Berkin/74 LGB, Alexander<br />
Smouha/84 LGB, Jacien Carr/85 LGB,<br />
Tom Taylor/86 LGB, Nathalie<br />
Albrow-Kavalier/91 La Chât, Vanessa<br />
Camilleri/91 LGB and Erin Emerson/<br />
97 La Chât.<br />
Alexander Smouha/84<br />
New York: l. to r. facing us: Jane Sharp, Steve Tobias, Peggy Troupin, Madeleine<br />
Howenstine l. to r. back to us: Robert Hobbs (husband of Jean Crutchfield), Judy Thomas,<br />
Ellen Schwartz<br />
Photos : Rock Brynner/63<br />
Washington DC:<br />
New York: l. to r. facing us: Madeleine Howenstine, Hélène Potter, Liz Frank, Charles<br />
Potter l. to r. backs to us: Judy Thomas, Ellen Sherman Schwartz, Jerry Schwartz, Riva<br />
Freifeld, Jean Crutchfield (Jerry and Riva face us in the mirror)<br />
Photos : Alexander Smouha/84<br />
New York: l.: Karl Cerni, Amir Mehdiza (hidden by Karl) r.: Lorena Cerni, ….,<br />
Jens Krummel<br />
Our thanks to the Organizers of these<br />
Escalade dinners......
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 8<br />
Campus News – La Châtaigneraie<br />
La Fondation de l’Ecole Internationale<br />
de Genève fête son 80 e anniversaire.<br />
La Châtaigneraie a rejoint l’Ecole<br />
Internationale en 1971 soit 34 ans<br />
de vie commune. Fondée en 1908 la<br />
Châtaigneraie a connu une histoire<br />
plus mouvementée et bien qu’il y<br />
ait encore des visites d’anciens de la<br />
période pré-écolint, il est difficile de<br />
pouvoir constituer une association des<br />
anciens de la Châtaigneraie depuis<br />
sa création. Nous avons d’ailleurs<br />
actuellement très peu d’archives sur<br />
la période de 1908 à 1971.<br />
Une histoire de cette période serait<br />
intéressante à écrire. C’est la raison<br />
pour laquelle je fais un appel à toute<br />
personne en possession de documents<br />
sur cette période. Je tiens à remercier<br />
M me Meyhoffer pour les photos quelle<br />
m’a communiquées. Ainsi que M.<br />
Sheppard (USA) pour les documents<br />
remis lors de son passage.<br />
Les anciens de la Châtaigneraie<br />
ont parfois de la peine à trouver leur<br />
place dans la structure actuelle de<br />
l’Association des Anciens.<br />
Un groupe s’est récemment<br />
constitué pour relancer, redynamiser<br />
l’association. L’objectif n’est pas de<br />
faire une sécession, mais de constituer<br />
une fédération des anciens. Avec<br />
Internet il est plus facile de reconstituer<br />
un réseau il faudrait que 2 anciens<br />
par décade s’attellent à la tâche. Un<br />
site indépendant à été ouvert par un<br />
ancien Ian Cogswell-Prince. D’autre<br />
part, je vous invite à consulter le site<br />
www.ecolint.ch de l’école qui vous<br />
donne régulièrement des nouvelles.<br />
Le campus est en pleine mutation.<br />
L’annexe de Mies qui avait été ouverte<br />
en 1999 va fermer à la fin de cette année<br />
scolaire avec l’ouverture du nouveau<br />
Campus des Nations au Grand-<br />
Saconnex. Je vous communique cidessous<br />
des extraits du rapport annuel<br />
établi pour le Conseil de Fondation.<br />
Parmi les grandes innovations, il faut<br />
rappeler l’adoption du programme<br />
primaire de l’office du Baccalauréat<br />
International pour les écoles primaires,<br />
l’introduction de la Maturité suisse<br />
bilingue, la construction d’un terrain<br />
de football artificiel et l’organisation<br />
d’un concours d’architectes pour<br />
la construction d’une nouvelle salle<br />
de sport. La rénovation de l’ancien<br />
bâtiment suit son cours et suite à l’achat<br />
d’un terrain de 17.000m 2 en face de<br />
l’école une étude de déclassement est<br />
en cours.<br />
La réunion des anciens, prévue au<br />
moment de la Kermesse le week-end<br />
du 11 juin, sera, je l’espère l’occasion<br />
de renouer des liens. C’est avec plaisir<br />
que je me joindrai à vous la soirée du<br />
11 juin.<br />
Je vous invite donc à vous contacter<br />
mutuellement et je vous encourage<br />
à faire le déplacement. Le comité<br />
vous conseillera sur les possibilités de<br />
logement.<br />
Michel Chinal<br />
Directeur du Campus<br />
From the 2005 ‘La<br />
Châtaigneraie’ Governing<br />
Board Report :<br />
Secondary School at La<br />
Châtaigneraie :<br />
‘This year has seen another step in<br />
our gradual move towards increasing<br />
the level of bilingualism in the school.<br />
The Bilingual Maturité was offered<br />
for the first time this year and much<br />
preparation has been done to be ready<br />
to teach the Humanities subjects in<br />
English. Exam results have been very<br />
good this year.’<br />
Vie de l’Ecole<br />
‘Les compétitions sportives, grâce<br />
à l’apport d’un budget spécial et<br />
Photo : Sue Anthony<br />
Terrain de football synthétique à La Chât.<br />
d’une nouvelle coordinatrice sont en<br />
plein essor. Nos élèves participent aux<br />
rencontres internationales (ISST),<br />
nationales (SGIS, ADISR) ou locales.<br />
Nous participons essentiellement<br />
pour le football, le basket, le crosscountry,<br />
le rugby, le minihockey et le<br />
badminton, le ski et le tennis.’<br />
‘La récente Ligue des Nations des<br />
Etudiants (LNE, SLN) a réuni 15<br />
écoles dans la grande salle de l’ONU à<br />
Genève. Les débats ont été focalisés sur<br />
les problèmes sensibles du moment :<br />
gestion mondiale de l’eau potable, le<br />
rôle du Conseil de sécurité dans les<br />
crises internationales, les relations<br />
israélo-palestiniennes, la lutte contre<br />
le terrorisme, la légalisation de<br />
l’euthanasie.’<br />
Photo : Sabah Al-Basri Salman
9<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
Nouvelles du Département<br />
des Arts Visuels de La<br />
Châtaigneraie<br />
Pour la première fois dans l’histoire<br />
de La Châtaigneraie des élèves de<br />
la section francophone ont exposé<br />
leurs travaux artistiques de diplôme.<br />
En effet, en septembre 2004, trois<br />
étudiants de la première volée de<br />
la nouvelle Maturité Suisse : Fiona<br />
MacFarquar, Mélanie Borès et Kai<br />
Pham, trois anciens à présent, ont<br />
passé avec grand succès leurs examens<br />
finaux en option spécifique Arts<br />
Visuels, un programme qui ressemble<br />
beaucoup à celui des Arts du BI. Ils ont<br />
exposé leurs travaux dans la poterie,<br />
métamorphosée pour l’occasion<br />
en galerie et la soirée fut un grand<br />
succès, les anciens étudiants ayant pu<br />
expliquer avec brio leur cheminement<br />
artistique à leurs anciens professeurs,<br />
leur famille et leurs amis.<br />
Le département des Arts Visuels<br />
de La Châtaigneraie a bien grandi<br />
depuis son séjour dans la sympathique<br />
petite maison à côté des courts<br />
de tennis, il occupe à présent une<br />
grande partie du rez-de-chaussée<br />
du vieux bâtiment ; la cafétéria, la<br />
cuisine et les anciens frigos, certains<br />
bureaux ayant été réaménagés en<br />
ateliers, sans pour autant perdre leur<br />
architecture si particulière, les formes<br />
des fenêtres, de certaines portes<br />
ayant été respectées et une ancienne<br />
fenêtre « œil de bœuf » ayant été<br />
redécouverte et mise en évidence.<br />
Chaque année le département<br />
organise quelques expositions,<br />
celle des étudiants BI en mars-avril,<br />
maintenant les diplômés Maturité<br />
Suisse en octobre, et, selon les envies<br />
et les idées, de petites expositions<br />
thématiques comme cette année<br />
les travaux inspirés par l’Afrique,<br />
pendant la semaine africaine et les<br />
autoportraits après les vacances de<br />
Pâques. Les travaux IGCSE sont mis<br />
en évidence chaque année dans le hall<br />
d’entrée du Centre MultiMédia.<br />
Aimeriez-vous être tenu au courant<br />
de ces manifestations N’hésitez<br />
pas à nous contacter et nous vous<br />
ajouterons avec plaisir à notre liste :<br />
beatrice.hoesli@ecolint.ch<br />
Béatrice Hoesli<br />
Message from the<br />
Executive Committee of<br />
the Student Council (La<br />
Chât.)<br />
Le comité Exécutif du Conseil des<br />
Elèves se compose des présidents<br />
du Conseil des Elèves – Ashley<br />
Oldacre, Dylan Boynton et Mylene<br />
Maillard, le secrétaire, Evan<br />
Boggs, et du Trésorier, Sridhar<br />
Tamminayana.<br />
Already we find ourselves in March,<br />
with less than half the school year<br />
remaining, and it feels like we’ve only<br />
just gotten started. Elected last June,<br />
it seems we have worked tirelessly to<br />
uphold the legacy of our predecessors<br />
and improve on that which we deemed<br />
lacking in past administrations. Our<br />
main goals for the year are that of<br />
bettering the everyday life of the<br />
students we serve and improving the<br />
system of the Student Council itself.<br />
By this summer we hope to have<br />
created something worthwhile to pass<br />
onto the next generation of the La<br />
Châtaigneraie Student Council.<br />
Yet less than eight months ago<br />
we found ourselves sitting around a<br />
table discussing just what it was we<br />
hoped to achieve during our term<br />
of office. Each year the Executive<br />
Committee goes through an initial<br />
period of tentative plans and projects<br />
as they work to assemble a group of<br />
committed, intelligent Committee<br />
Heads and construct a preliminary list<br />
of events, projects and overall goals.<br />
Photo : Philippe-André Kzink<br />
Département des Arts Visuels (La Chât.): Exposition B.I.<br />
This period occupied a major part<br />
of June and September as we quickly<br />
learned that organizing Council-wide<br />
meetings and small-scale projects<br />
proved more difficult than initially<br />
expected. Our first test as an effective<br />
student organization truly came<br />
in early November with the Junior<br />
Halloween Dance. Hiccups were<br />
minor, and overall we now consider<br />
the night to be a success.<br />
We were now into our stride, with<br />
a pair of fundraising events following<br />
hot on the heels of the dance and<br />
accompanied by the newly invented<br />
Activities Week – seven days worth of<br />
hilarious costumes and exceptionally<br />
unusual hairstyles. A pair of dances<br />
– one held at school and the other in<br />
an upscale Genevoise hotel – and the<br />
annual sale of roses on St. Valentine’s<br />
Day brought us into late February, as<br />
major planning for the Bal des Neiges<br />
got underway. The yearly Fashion<br />
Show is also fast approaching, and<br />
yet few of our fellow Student Council<br />
officers seem overtly anxious. The<br />
workings of the Council have become<br />
‘business as usual’ as we move into<br />
spring, and we hope for this steady<br />
stream of events and improvements to<br />
continue well into the summer.<br />
At this point our greatest success<br />
has been the fact that students<br />
now view the Council as an active,<br />
informative body rather than a ragtag<br />
band of students pulling together<br />
every once in a while to get a dance<br />
planned. I would say that our being<br />
considered a positive force within the<br />
La Châtaigneraie community is proof<br />
that we’re doing our job right.
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 10<br />
Campus News<br />
La Grande Boissière<br />
Dear LGB Alumni,<br />
At LGB we had an unfortunate start<br />
to the second term. The magnificent<br />
XVIIIthC entrance gates were<br />
badly damaged by a truck driver<br />
who misjudged the height of his<br />
truck. The wrought-iron gate, crosspiece,<br />
stone pillar and urn suffered<br />
the consequences of this error of<br />
judgement. It is the first time that<br />
the gates have suffered such damage.<br />
However this is not the first time<br />
that they have been dismounted.<br />
In 1965 the gates and pillars were<br />
taken down to allow a better flow of<br />
traffic. Fortunately a preservation<br />
order ensured that they would not<br />
be destroyed. In 1978 the gates were<br />
reinstated (in a different location)<br />
thanks to the perseverance of Madame<br />
Vicky Stereva, an alumna who also<br />
persuaded the authorities to restore<br />
the elegant edifice. Considerable<br />
restoration work will have to be carried<br />
out to bring the gates and pillars back<br />
to their original splendour. We are<br />
liaising with the state to see that this is<br />
done as quickly as possible.<br />
Sports Field<br />
Many of you will remember the<br />
mud-baths and wet feet suffered due<br />
to the poor drainage of the Sports<br />
Field. Well, we have been working<br />
hard to find funding to remedy the<br />
drainage problem and re-configure<br />
the whole Sports Field. Thanks to<br />
a very generous donation of CHF<br />
500’000, we can now go ahead with<br />
this project. The final proposal was<br />
brought before the CDG for review on<br />
February 23. All components of the<br />
project received strong support. It is<br />
hoped that the work may take place<br />
over the summer 2005. The target is<br />
that the facilities will be available for<br />
the students at the beginning of the<br />
school year 2005-2006.<br />
the CDG considered that this building<br />
should keep its original name, which<br />
was unfortunately lost somewhere in<br />
the history of our school. It was felt<br />
that since the Foundation Strategic<br />
Plan calls for greater sharing of<br />
our school history with the school<br />
community, it would be appropriate<br />
to keep this historical element. From<br />
now on, we will refer to this building<br />
as “La Ferme”.<br />
Jean-Guy Carpentier<br />
Campus Principal<br />
LGB Gates<br />
Physical Education Department<br />
Voici l’équipe senior de foot de LGB, qui a participé et gagné le tournoi indoor soccer de la<br />
SGIS (Swiss Group of International Schools) le 21 Novembre 2004. Elle est accompagnée<br />
par son entraîneur, M. Boudehane .<br />
Photos : Pablo Lopez<br />
Photo : Alfonso Fojo<br />
Re-naming<br />
the Reception/<br />
Guidance building<br />
Following wide consultation, several<br />
names were put forward to the CDG<br />
for their views concerning renaming<br />
the old Guidance/Reception<br />
building. With a strong consensus<br />
Le football féminin est une activité très importante à LGB. Ici on peut voir l’équipe de<br />
football senior qui, après avoir gagné le tournoi scolaire à Genève, a participé à la finale de<br />
la Coupe Suisse à Berne. L’équipe est accompagnée par Sue Kline, la responsable du succès<br />
du football féminin à l’école.
Photos : Alfonso Fojo<br />
Photo : Edmundo Timm<br />
What’s going on in the<br />
Theatre Arts Department :<br />
Main School production (English) :<br />
Musical ‘Blood Brothers’ – all years.<br />
LGB Theatre : 27-30 April – 19h30<br />
Fashion Show – all years – LGB Theatre<br />
26-28 May – 19h30 and 31 May – year 12,<br />
IB Theatre Arts evening performance<br />
– year 12 – LGB Theatre 2 –3 June, 19h30<br />
Marshall Sapherson<br />
Head Theatre Arts<br />
Vernissage :<br />
Class 13 IB Visual Arts<br />
An excellent evening was spent with the<br />
Class 13 IB Visual Arts students, and<br />
Stephen Preece, on 23 March in the Visual<br />
Arts department. This was a celebration<br />
of the termination of three days of<br />
examinations. The students presented<br />
their Research Workbooks, Studio Work<br />
and explained their work to a large group<br />
of visitors. Thank you, Class 13 students.<br />
LGB Boarding Students of<br />
the 60’s :<br />
We found this photograph of the<br />
Boarders in the mid 60’s period. There<br />
are many we can identify, but if you<br />
recognize yourself or other friends, please<br />
get in contact with us – alumni@ecolint.<br />
ch<br />
From your Boarding House ‘parents’ of<br />
long ago……..<br />
Two LGB Exchange<br />
Programmes :<br />
L’échange Laflèche/<strong>Ecolint</strong><br />
A l’initiative d’Hélène Dupuis,<br />
professeur de français au Collège<br />
Laflèche, à Trois- Rivières, au Québec,<br />
nous avons organisé un échange<br />
pédagogique et culturel entre des<br />
élèves préparant le BI .<br />
Dix élèves de classe 12 de français<br />
A1 ou A2 du secondaire de La<br />
Grande Boissière sont partis avec<br />
deux professeurs de cette discipline,<br />
Marie-Claire Vigneau-Ribal et Martine<br />
Maudet vers les neiges du Québec et<br />
les glaces du Saint-Laurent, pendant<br />
les vacances de février 2005.<br />
Là-bas, nous avons été reçus comme<br />
des rois. Nous avons découvert un<br />
système scolaire complètement<br />
différent, même si l’examen final<br />
est le même. En effet, au CEGEP,<br />
sorte de pont entre la fin des études<br />
secondaires et l’Université, des<br />
étudiants, sélectionnés sur la base<br />
d’une réussite académique pendant<br />
leur scolarité obligatoire, préparent le<br />
BI sur deux filières, l’une à dominante<br />
scientifique et l’autre à dominante<br />
littéraire. L’une des grandes surprises,<br />
pour nos élèves, fut de constater qu’au<br />
Collège Laflèche, tous les étudiants<br />
étaient québécois, et qu’on pouvait<br />
vivre sans téléphone portable greffé<br />
dans la main. Nos étudiants logeaient<br />
dans les familles des correspondants,<br />
nous allions en cours le matin et nous<br />
visitions la région l’après-midi.<br />
Après cette semaine de découvertes,<br />
les Québécois sont venus à Genève. Ils<br />
furent reçus chez leurs correspondants<br />
désormais amis et nous avons<br />
fonctionné de la même manière,<br />
alternant cours et visites. L’une des<br />
grande surprises, pour les Québécois,<br />
fut de constater que tous les étudiants<br />
n’étaient pas suisses.<br />
En somme, cette extraordinaire<br />
aventure a été un grand succès, sur<br />
tous les plans. En effet, à l’Ecole<br />
11<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
Internationale, nous parlons beaucoup<br />
de nos diverses cultures, mais<br />
finalement, nous évoluons tous dans<br />
une sorte de « culture » commune :<br />
celle de l’<strong>Ecolint</strong>. Avec cette<br />
expérience, étudiants et professeurs<br />
ont vécu un véritable échange culturel<br />
et pédagogique. L’un des participants<br />
m’a confié : « J’ai plus appris avec<br />
ces 15 jours d’échange qu’en 15 ans<br />
d’école ».<br />
Merci à tous ceux qui, de près ou de<br />
loin, ont rendu ce projet réalisable.<br />
Merci à tous ceux qui croient que<br />
la pédagogie peut aussi se vivre extra<br />
muros ....<br />
Marie-Claire Vigneau-Ribal<br />
Mauritius Exchange<br />
Programme<br />
The exchange to Mauritius was felt to<br />
be a good idea from many points of view<br />
- first of all we would be establishing<br />
ties with the first International School<br />
on the island of Mauritius and the<br />
International School of Geneva. Le<br />
Bocage International School, like<br />
ourselves, offers the IB Diploma<br />
Programme.<br />
In the February break a small group<br />
of students came to Geneva and were<br />
hosted by our LGB students. Several<br />
activities were arranged for them<br />
including a visit to CERN, the UN and<br />
ICRC, a trip to Chamonix and visits<br />
to museums in Geneva as well as a<br />
guided tour of the Cathedral and La<br />
Vieille Ville. They spent two days in<br />
school experiencing different lessons<br />
and on their final evening we all went<br />
out for a fabulous fondue.<br />
The return visit will take place at<br />
Easter 2005 – and will be hosted by<br />
families in Mauritius. We’ll let you<br />
know how it goes …. in the next<br />
alumni ‘<strong>Newsletter</strong>’ ….<br />
Jane McKenzie
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 12<br />
What’s New With You <br />
Just what have you been doing since<br />
you left the different campuses<br />
Have any novel and exciting things<br />
happened in your personal and<br />
professional life If so, please let us<br />
know and we will try to include your<br />
contribution in future editions of the<br />
Alumni ‘<strong>Newsletter</strong>’. We keep the<br />
ball rolling with news from Pablo O.<br />
Canziani, graduated 1977<br />
Profile: Pablo O. Canziani<br />
Graduation from La Grande Boissière<br />
in 1977.<br />
Some perspectives from the South of<br />
South America<br />
Good Lord! 28 years have gone by<br />
since the Graduation Ceremony at<br />
the Thônex Townhall (it was raining)<br />
and the Senior Prom on one of<br />
the wheelboats of the Compagnie<br />
Genevoise de Navigation. That means<br />
I am 45 and some of the more recent<br />
members of the Alumni community<br />
are thinking ‘Help, more dithering<br />
from another oldtimer’. And yet…<br />
and yet I feel great and I feel young,<br />
as if only a few years had gone by since<br />
my 9 years at <strong>Ecolint</strong>: Doris Rushton,<br />
M. Thedy, Mr. Quin, Mr Dorsay,<br />
Mme Bonhomme, Mme Rivoire, the<br />
Unitts, the Anthonys, Mr Sharpe,<br />
Mr Montgomery, Mr Bonnan, Mr<br />
Phillips, Mr Thomas and so many<br />
others. I feel young and active not just<br />
because I am doing what I like. It is<br />
so because I learnt about keeping an<br />
open mind and heart, starting with<br />
the efforts requested and expected<br />
from us at <strong>Ecolint</strong>, and continuing<br />
with many difficulties over the years -<br />
a war between the UK and Argentina,<br />
because people at the helm in both<br />
countries, one a dictator, the other<br />
an elected Prime Minister, each had<br />
their own petty reasons which needed<br />
an expensive and deadly circus to<br />
remain in power rather than discuss<br />
and negotiate the issue as requested<br />
by the UN since the sixties, the<br />
sacrifices of my fellow citizens and the<br />
glorious return to democracy in 1983,<br />
hyperinflation and unemployment<br />
(yes, I too was unemployed for a<br />
while), the dismantling of my country<br />
through the blunders and corruption<br />
of its very own politicians, together with<br />
the connivance of some others from<br />
abroad and institutions that ´helped´,<br />
supporting behind the scenes corrupt<br />
practices to their benefit while<br />
supposedly preaching ´transparency´<br />
and ‘globalization’(one way only<br />
please, mind you) with a tinge of<br />
superiority, the untimely death of my<br />
mother… I learnt how important it is<br />
to remain young in mind and heart<br />
to lead my young doctoral students<br />
and junior scientist, to transfer them<br />
the patience and enthusiasm for the<br />
job and the good things in their life<br />
choice, despite our local problems<br />
and difficulties. I know, above all, how<br />
important it is to remain young and<br />
enthusiastic for my wife and children.<br />
A brief chronology… In 1985 I<br />
finally earned my MSc. in Physics at<br />
the University of Buenos Aires and<br />
married beautiful Mercedes, an art<br />
teacher, friend and spouse. Our first<br />
son, Tomás was born in 1986, as I<br />
started my PhD in Physics, specializing<br />
in Geophysics, while working at the<br />
Naval Research Service. My mother<br />
died in 1987 after suffering multiple<br />
schlerosis for over 10 years, and some<br />
time later we lost a child during<br />
pregnancy. In 1989 our first girl,<br />
Julieta, was born and in early 1991 I<br />
earned my PhD. By September 1992 I<br />
was a PostDoc Fellow at the University<br />
of Washington, Seattle, under Prof.<br />
Jim Holton, a great scientist and an<br />
even greater person. We stayed there<br />
for almost 2 years, while I worked as a<br />
member of the NASA UARS Science<br />
Team (Upper Atmosphere Research<br />
Satellite). There, due to the partial<br />
failure of the satellite instrument<br />
whose data I was going to work with,<br />
a momentous change in my career<br />
occurred. I began research on the<br />
issues of ozone depletion and climate<br />
dynamics and change. While in Seattle<br />
my wife introduced me to camping,<br />
which has become a family activity<br />
ever since. Furthermore the Cascades<br />
scenery and a trip to Yellowstone<br />
and Grand Teton, triggered the<br />
shutterbug in me, and photography<br />
has been a part of me ever since. Our<br />
last camping adventure this year was<br />
a trip to Bariloche at the northern<br />
end of the Patagonian Andes, almost<br />
1800km away from Buenos Aires.<br />
At the time we faced a difficult<br />
choice. We could stay in the US, where<br />
probably I would lead a good scientific<br />
career, not necessarily brilliant but<br />
reasonably good and well paid. Or we<br />
could return home, avoid the pain of<br />
being foreigners for the rest of our<br />
lives, in particular for our children and<br />
for the family, but have a more difficult<br />
evolution in my career and economy.<br />
Yet at the same time back home we<br />
would contribute to development of<br />
our country and recovery of its selfrespect.<br />
We opted for the second,<br />
more difficult path: nor my wife nor<br />
me, despite many difficulties including<br />
a significant bout with ill-health for my<br />
wife, regret our choice. Prof. Holton<br />
kindly provided his support for this<br />
enterprise and kept me as a member of<br />
the UARS Science Team for a number<br />
of years. Shortly after our return our<br />
youngest daughter, Maria Paula was<br />
born. I joined CONICET, the National<br />
Research Council of Argentina and<br />
slowly opened a professional path for<br />
my work and my scientific ideas. My<br />
research includes data analysis from<br />
NASA, ESA and Argentine satellites,<br />
as well as modeling in cooperation<br />
with universities in UK, Italy, Canada,<br />
Germany and the US. Foreign<br />
recognition for our results came along<br />
and I have been involved in Vienna<br />
Convention (Ozone layer) activities,<br />
in the last two U.N. State of the Ozone<br />
Depletion Assessments and special<br />
assessments for the Intergovernmental<br />
Panel on Climate Change, as co-author<br />
and one of the representatives of the<br />
South American scientific community<br />
in the field. I am a member of the<br />
Steering Committee for one of the<br />
World Climate Research Programme<br />
projects (SPARC) and have actively<br />
worked to bring scientific meetings<br />
and expertise to the South of South<br />
America, to help develop the scientific<br />
capabilities in the region and to share<br />
our own activities with the rest of the
world. Despite the worn out, almost<br />
caricature-like image many people in<br />
the First World still have about South<br />
America, many things are happening<br />
in the fields of science and the arts, and<br />
the exchange of ideas and the sharing<br />
of cultures and values is after all what<br />
the true globalization is about.<br />
Since last July I lead, at the Pontificia<br />
Universidad Catolica Argentina a<br />
new programme which includes<br />
physicists, chemists, engineers and<br />
meteorologists in an interdisciplinary<br />
effort, which in the future will include<br />
researchers from the Social Sciences<br />
and Economy, in order to study<br />
climate related global change issues in<br />
an integral approach. A further goal<br />
is to contribute to the development of<br />
a scientific research tradition at this<br />
university. A last and proud milestone,<br />
my eldest son is starting to study<br />
Architecture next month.<br />
Since our return home I have been<br />
active in what we call ‘extension’<br />
activities. This means that as member<br />
as CONICET we have to interact with<br />
the media to inform society on our<br />
research results. Since ozone depletion<br />
and climate change are major<br />
social issues down here (Chile and<br />
Argentina share the dubious honor<br />
of having each spring the Antartic<br />
Ozone Hole fly over their southern<br />
territories and populations). Thus I<br />
won a national journalism prize back<br />
in 1998 for a three part serial article<br />
on the ozone issue. Occasionally<br />
I also write opinion articles for La<br />
Nacion, one of the major newspapers<br />
in Spanish, referring to Science and<br />
Technology and their role in society<br />
and sustainable development, as well<br />
as on environmental issues. Seeing<br />
what we use in our research and<br />
realizing how damning the current<br />
trend is in the global society as well as<br />
in its relation to the environment it is<br />
impossible to remain quiet.<br />
Together with camping and<br />
photography (I always travel with my<br />
camera), I continue with my passion<br />
for trains. I am currently trying to start<br />
work again, this time with my children,<br />
on model railroading (CFF of course).<br />
It has become terribly expensive but<br />
then that is an added challenge to<br />
manufacture everything yourself. As an<br />
anti-stress activity, but as joint activity<br />
with Mercedes as well, we have been<br />
taking tango lessons for a while now.<br />
To those who know me as a person<br />
not very much in touch with bodily<br />
activities this is probably surprising! It<br />
is not the old Valentino style, nor the<br />
stage version better known abroad. It<br />
is the classic and popular Argentine<br />
‘milonguero’ style, which is now<br />
becoming known in far away places as<br />
Japan, Finland or Germany. Tango is<br />
undergoing a major rebirth here, and<br />
it is a very pleasant way to exercise,<br />
specially for couples. None of you can<br />
imagine the pleasure of stretching a<br />
crumpled backbone, to the rhythm<br />
of Tango, embracing your wife, after<br />
many hours in front of a computer<br />
screen.<br />
Bear with me through one more<br />
important issue in recent years. During<br />
December 2001 the level of years of<br />
compounded political ineptitude,<br />
together with the weight and pressure<br />
of the questioned and questionable<br />
foreign debt and the internal social<br />
debt reached a dangerous level in<br />
my country. In a surprising peaceful<br />
civil uprising society forced many<br />
changes, while respecting democracy,<br />
and a new period began. Despite the<br />
goodwill of the people, we came too<br />
dangerously close to a civil war, but<br />
somehow or other that was avoided. At<br />
the time the UN Office in Argentina<br />
and the Catholic Church launched<br />
a special programme, known as the<br />
Argentine Dialogue, to mediate and<br />
promote the exchanges between the<br />
different parts of our society and with<br />
the politicians. Over the next year this<br />
process evolved to the point that it is<br />
now jointly chaired by over 40 social<br />
organizations, including the Catholic<br />
Church, Jewish organizations,<br />
Protestant entities, Muslim communities,<br />
human rights groups,<br />
Argentine YMCA and YWCA, etc.<br />
Specific consultative working groups<br />
were created to develop, through<br />
open democratic debate and social<br />
consensus, blueprints for State Policies<br />
on such diverse issues as housing,<br />
judiciary reform, health, transparency<br />
policies for political parties, etc. These<br />
consensus based concepts represent<br />
the baseline which all political parties<br />
must engage to respect. Once major<br />
guidelines are established the working<br />
groups interact with the government<br />
and national Congress to reach the<br />
implementation phase. Progress at<br />
this stage can be painfully slow as<br />
many old political and business habits<br />
die hard. For the first time presidential<br />
debates, albeit non-televised,<br />
were held in Argentina under the<br />
sponsorship of the Dialogue. As<br />
chair of the Science and Technology<br />
13<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
working group I participated in many<br />
of these town meetings. I must say it<br />
has been a fascinating experience,<br />
particularly since the debates were<br />
co-chaired for example by a rabbi<br />
and a sheik, a bishop and a rabbi or<br />
a pastor and a sheik, etc, side by side,<br />
in an example of mutual respect and<br />
tolerance. Forcing politicians to try to<br />
be transparent at least for a while was<br />
interesting. The UN is studying the<br />
evolution of this democratic tool and<br />
is promoting its use in other countries<br />
undergoing stress and crisis under<br />
democratic systems. Last year the<br />
Argentine Branch of the B’nia Brith<br />
awarded the Argentine Dialogue<br />
and its members their human rights<br />
for their work in helping restore<br />
democracy and its institutions in this<br />
country.<br />
The members of our working group<br />
are active scientists, lawyers and<br />
development economists with diverse<br />
experience. We work with the various<br />
science and technology models<br />
currently operating in different<br />
countries, in order to rebuild the<br />
once excellent science tradition in<br />
this country. We do not do this in<br />
our free time for fun. We are mostly<br />
overworked, underpaid researchers,<br />
many of whom also teach at different<br />
universities, doing research with<br />
threadbare grants in order to compete<br />
in the international arena. We do<br />
this for the sake of a better country<br />
and, why not, a better world, where<br />
democracy and dialogue and real<br />
tolerance can become a way of life,<br />
and the respect for others a trademark<br />
in a wide variety of activities, including<br />
international affairs and maybe, some<br />
day, even in the world of business.<br />
Daydreaming May be...and so<br />
After all, why not Let’s return to the<br />
beginning of these lines: youth is not<br />
so much about wealth or external<br />
revamping through surgery, miracle<br />
creams, botox, whatever. Youth is<br />
about the heart and about being<br />
happy with what one is, has and does.<br />
It is about ideals, it is about caring, it is<br />
about love. It is about always working<br />
to make this a better place for us and<br />
for others. Youth is about learning<br />
from mistakes and failure and yet not<br />
giving up. Youth is about opening new<br />
and better paths.
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 14<br />
Retirements<br />
Pregny Rigot<br />
Ted Weldon (1974-2004)<br />
Ted started working at the United<br />
Nations School (now Pregny-Rigot)<br />
in September 1974. The director<br />
of the school at that time was Joyce<br />
Wakenshaw. She told me that it was<br />
unusual to have an application from<br />
a man to teach Class 2, but as many<br />
of the children had fathers who were<br />
often away from home she decided<br />
that the influence of a male teacher in<br />
the classroom of such young children<br />
would prove to be a real advantage.<br />
Ted went on to teach Class 2 for more<br />
than 20 years, so clearly Joyce was right<br />
in thinking that employing a man to<br />
teach young children was a good idea.<br />
In 1997 Ted moved down to Rigot to<br />
teach the Primary Reception class. He<br />
was much appreciated by the parents,<br />
who found their young children were<br />
having a unique experience being<br />
taught by “the man-teacher” as the<br />
little ones called him.<br />
There are very many happy and<br />
amusing memories of Ted, which were<br />
recalled, fondly, by both colleagues<br />
and former students at the time of<br />
his retirement last summer. Many<br />
remembered the stories Ted used to<br />
tell his class, mostly very “tall” stories,<br />
but all too believable. At any rate, he<br />
told them in such a way that his class<br />
were never entirely sure, but they<br />
loved the sensation of being just a<br />
little bit scared, especially when it was<br />
a trusted and loved teacher who was<br />
telling the stories.<br />
Former students spoke about<br />
Pumpkin the rabbit, which roamed<br />
freely around the classroom, ate any<br />
snack that was (accidentally) dropped<br />
on the floor and loved to join in class<br />
activities. They also recalled with<br />
amusement Mr. Weldon’s incredibly<br />
loud sneezes which used to rock his<br />
classroom and the Central Space and<br />
which featured prominently in many<br />
an End of Year assembly when the<br />
Class 6 students shared their memories<br />
of life at Pregny.<br />
In 1976, Ted’s future wife Keeney<br />
Ryan joined us at Pregny on a oneyear<br />
exchange. They surprised us all<br />
by getting married in August 1978. We<br />
were so delighted that Ted brought<br />
Keeney into the International School<br />
family, and as colleagues and friends<br />
we spent many happy times with<br />
them both, until her untimely passing<br />
after a long and courageous struggle<br />
against cancer in 2001. We did our<br />
best to support Ted during her illness<br />
and grieved with him, because she<br />
was such a wonderfully talented and<br />
devoted teacher and a truly loyal and<br />
caring friend who left us much too<br />
soon.<br />
Ted was also a long-serving Staff<br />
Representative, who worked tirelessly<br />
on various committees over a number<br />
of years to ensure that the working<br />
conditions of the staff were respected.<br />
We thank him for his sterling efforts<br />
on our behalf and wish him a long and<br />
contented retirement.<br />
Sandra Oakley<br />
La Châtaigneraie<br />
Monique Florimond (1984-2004)<br />
Depuis la rentrée 2004, les choses ne<br />
sont plus tout à fait comme avant à<br />
l’Ecole Primaire de la Châtaigneraie:<br />
Monique Florimond, enseignante des<br />
classes 6, a pris sa retraite. Monique<br />
était une de ces personnalités<br />
marquantes de notre communauté<br />
scolaire et son absence se fait<br />
fortement sentir.<br />
Au début de sa carrière Monique<br />
a cherché de nouvelles frontières<br />
au Canada. Ensuite, après quelques<br />
années à l’Ecole Active Bilingue<br />
de Paris, elle a enseigné dans une<br />
école internationale en Suisse. Elle<br />
a finalement trouvé sa place à La<br />
Châtaigneraie où elle a marqué tant<br />
d’élèves pendant 20 ans. Nous étions<br />
très attachés à sa forte personnalité,<br />
une personnalité nourrie aussi par<br />
une vaste culture et sa passion pour<br />
l’enseignement, choses qu’elle savait<br />
faire partager. Monique aimait être<br />
en classe avec ses élèves, allant jusqu’à<br />
refuser une réduction de sa charge<br />
d’enseignante en compensation<br />
de son travail de coordinatrice du<br />
programme francophone, travail<br />
qu’elle accomplit avec son efficacité<br />
caractéristique.<br />
Attachée à des convictions et<br />
principes qu’elle savait défendre haut<br />
et fort, son engagement constant<br />
contribuait à animer les assemblées<br />
et réunions où elle n’hésitait pas à<br />
rappeler à l’ordre collègues, parents,<br />
voire directeurs qui déviaient tant<br />
soit peu de sa vision des choses (Gare<br />
à celui ou celle qui ne remettait pas<br />
l’agrafeuse à sa place !). Les réunions,<br />
les pauses dans la salle des professeurs<br />
ne sont malheureusement plus tout<br />
à fait les mêmes depuis son départ<br />
et nombreux sont tous ces petits<br />
évènements et détails de la vie scolaire<br />
qui ne manquent pas de régulièrement<br />
nous rappeler l’absence d’une chère<br />
et très respectée collègue.<br />
Fine gastronome mais aussi<br />
défenseur passionné de la culture<br />
francophone et de la langue française,<br />
sa curiosité envers les autres et sa<br />
soif de lecture des littératures du<br />
monde étaient restées insatiables. Au<br />
travers de ses récits de voyage, de ses<br />
connaissances et passions, elle nous<br />
enrichissait de ses enthousiasmes.<br />
Pas pour elles des numéros ou<br />
noms banals pour des locaux – nous<br />
avons des salles qui s’appellent ‘Les<br />
Impressionnistes’ ou encore ‘Les<br />
Lumières’. Son dynamisme et son<br />
rayonnement nous manqueront<br />
beaucoup. Désormais elle va mettre<br />
son énergie et ses talents au service<br />
de ses loisirs (bien mérités). Nous<br />
espérons toutefois qu’elle continuera<br />
à nous faire partager ses découvertes<br />
et sa vision des choses tout en maniant<br />
la langue de Molière avec esprit et<br />
habileté comme elle savait si bien le<br />
faire.<br />
Ann Le Diraison<br />
Hélène Forneris (1972-2004)<br />
32 ans de carrière dans la même<br />
institution laissent des traces sur la<br />
personne sans doute mais aussi sur<br />
l’institution.<br />
Normalienne confirmée, Hélène en<br />
1972 se laisse tenter par l’expérience<br />
d’un poste à l’étranger par le biais<br />
d’un détachement de l’éducation<br />
nationale française. Il s’agissait à<br />
l’époque de relancer un collège que<br />
l’Ecole Internationale de Genève<br />
venait d’acquérir. En y faisant carrière,<br />
Hélène a largement contribué à la<br />
renaissance, au développement et<br />
au succès de notre campus de la<br />
Châtaigneraie. Je tiens à la remercier<br />
pour ces 32 ans de collaboration.
Le parcours d’Hélène est<br />
exemplaire : elle a mené de front<br />
les multiples facettes du métier<br />
d’éducatrice. Comme professeur, elle<br />
a enseigné le français, l’histoire et la<br />
géographie. Elle a préparé des volées<br />
d’élèves au Brevet des Collèges et à<br />
l’option français B du Baccalauréat<br />
International. Ella a introduit les<br />
examens de français comme langue<br />
étrangère du DELF et du DALF. La<br />
préparation régulière des pièces de<br />
théâtre était le prolongement naturel<br />
de son enseignement. Maîtresse de<br />
classe pendant toutes les années,<br />
elle a conduit les conseils de classe<br />
« d’une main de fer dans un gant<br />
de velours » pour reprendre un<br />
commentaire d’élève. Organisatrice<br />
hors pair de la traditionnelle course<br />
d’école annuelle, elle a fait découvrir<br />
entre autre les volcans d’Auvergne, les<br />
gravures rupestres du Val Camonica<br />
et surtout Venise, sa destination<br />
préférée. Innovatrice, Hélène a<br />
testé les nouvelles méthodes de<br />
grammaire et surtout elle a participé<br />
à l’introduction de l’informatique<br />
dans le département de français dont<br />
elle a été la coordinatrice pendant<br />
plusieurs années. Enfin, pendant les<br />
7 dernières années, Hélène a partagé<br />
son énergie entre l’enseignement et<br />
le département de la guidance, autre<br />
prolongement naturel de la salle de<br />
classe vers l’université ou la vie active.<br />
Créatrice, elle a mis en place des stages<br />
en entreprise d’une semaine pour les<br />
élèves de 11 e .<br />
D’un tempérament bien trempé et<br />
maniant le verbe avec brio, Hélène<br />
a toujours tenu sa place dans les<br />
différentes commissions de travail<br />
et autres comités dont notre école<br />
est coutumière, n’hésitant pas à<br />
manifester vertement ses désaccords.<br />
Hélène a fait valoir ses droits à la<br />
retraite anticipée. Les mots utilisés<br />
par les élèves et ses collègues lors<br />
des incontournables cérémonies<br />
de départ ne trompent pas sur les<br />
qualités du personnage, chacun y est<br />
allé de sa trouvaille pour faire une fête<br />
joyeuse d’une rupture qui n’est jamais<br />
anodine. Nous attendons maintenant<br />
que Hélène accepte de servir dans le<br />
nouveau comité créé pour relancer<br />
l’association des anciens.<br />
Bonne retraite Hélène.<br />
Michel Chinal<br />
Directeur du Campus de la Châtaigneraie<br />
Important :<br />
Tributes to Mme Piera Bonada,<br />
Mme Arlette d’Amico and M.<br />
Roman Tomzack, who retired from<br />
La Châtaigneraie in August 2004,<br />
will be given in the next Alumni<br />
‘<strong>Newsletter</strong>’.<br />
La Grande Boissière<br />
Marie-Françoise Polliand (1963/<br />
67-2004)<br />
Arrivée en 1963, Marie-Françoise a<br />
été tout de suite saisie par l’esprit<br />
d’ouverture et l’internationalisme qui<br />
font partie des valeurs de l’<strong>Ecolint</strong>.<br />
C’est ainsi qu’en 1964 elle partit à<br />
l’aventure, lorsqu’elle accepta, au<br />
nom de l’<strong>Ecolint</strong>, une mission de 9<br />
mois à Dar-es-Salam pour créer le<br />
département de français de l’école<br />
internationale de cette région... elle y<br />
est restée 4 ans.<br />
A son retour, elle reprit ses allées<br />
et venues entre les unités primaire et<br />
moyenne de la Grande Boissière.<br />
Au cours de ce long périple dans<br />
l’enseignement, Marie-Françoise a<br />
beaucoup apporté aux collègues qui<br />
ont eu la chance et la joie de travailler<br />
à ses côtés. Celles qui, comme moi,<br />
l’ont accompagnée pendant quelques<br />
décennies ont pu apprécier:<br />
Sa disponibilité: toujours présente<br />
pour prêter main forte là où c’est<br />
nécessaire, mettre à disposition<br />
son temps et son expérience pour<br />
les nouveaux arrivants, ou pour les<br />
autres.<br />
Son professionnalisme: toujours<br />
disposée à envisager de nouvelles<br />
approches pédagogiques, avec sérieux<br />
et compétence, ayant pour objectif<br />
de susciter chez les élèves, à tous les<br />
niveaux, l’enthousiasme, le plaisir<br />
d’apprendre, d’utiliser et d’apprécier<br />
la langue française.<br />
Son enthousiasme et sa générosité<br />
à partager avec les collègues ses<br />
approches pédagogiques et sa<br />
connaissance du milieu <strong>Ecolint</strong>.<br />
Sa foi sans faille dans les valeurs<br />
de l’<strong>Ecolint</strong> qu’elle a toujours non<br />
seulement défendues mais vécues et<br />
fait vivre aux nombreux élèves qui<br />
ont eu le privilège de l’avoir comme<br />
professeur.<br />
Sa solidarité dans les moments<br />
difficiles, quand, aux instants<br />
d’agacement ou de découragement<br />
elle nous disait toujours, avec<br />
l’optimisme qui la caractérise:<br />
”N’oubliez pas, il y a les élèves en<br />
premier... et puis cette école est quand<br />
15<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
même formidable!”<br />
Marie-Françoise ne prend pas de<br />
retraite. Elle quitte l’école et les<br />
élèves mais son horizon s’élargit vers<br />
les sommets de Saint-Gervais qu’elle<br />
affectionne tant. Ski, raquettes,<br />
randonnées été comme hiver, voyages<br />
et autres activités sauront rythmer,<br />
à une autre cadence, des journées<br />
riches d’expériences nouvelles.<br />
Merci Marie-Françoise pour tout<br />
ce que tu as donné de toi-même à<br />
la communauté de l’<strong>Ecolint</strong> et Bon<br />
Vent !<br />
Gladys Doebeli Rocourt<br />
David Ryan (1969-2004)<br />
David Ryan “retired” in August<br />
2004, though the school immediately<br />
acknowledged his indispensability by<br />
asking him to return for one final IB<br />
class.<br />
David came to <strong>Ecolint</strong> in 1969. In<br />
1973, Alison Russell arrived in the<br />
Maths department. She soon became<br />
Mrs Ryan and, in due course, the<br />
mother of Philip and Andrew, both<br />
now alumni of <strong>Ecolint</strong> and Cambridge,<br />
a fact which David tends to play down<br />
with typical modesty.<br />
I begin with David’s family because<br />
that is where his life is centred. The<br />
world is full of teachers who neglect<br />
their families for their work and<br />
administrators who encourage them to<br />
do so: it is to no one’s benefit. We teach<br />
nothing if we do not live the values that<br />
make human life worthwhile. David,<br />
with the quiet normality of a decent<br />
family man embracing the tried and<br />
tested values of civilized society,<br />
conveys more of these than many a<br />
preaching, politicising, awarenessraising<br />
proselyte. Indeed, that has been<br />
the secret of his outstanding success<br />
with students and especially with those<br />
most prone to going off the rails. By<br />
quietly presenting the role model<br />
he is through his gentle, methodical<br />
way of working, he enabled students<br />
to feel the value of a well-regulated,<br />
honest, unpretentious way of being,<br />
free from threat or intrusion. Here,<br />
students knew, was a stable family man<br />
par excellence and so his classes became<br />
stable families in their own right.<br />
He never went in for “pastoral<br />
care” or “whole child” policies – he<br />
just got on and did them: the whole<br />
world of aims, goals, objectives,<br />
educational philosophy, pedagogic<br />
theory, ologies and isms was alien to<br />
him and he preferred not to analyse
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 16<br />
or articulate the knowledge he had<br />
built for himself over a life-time’s<br />
authentic classroom experience. He<br />
nevertheless (or therefore) achieved<br />
by his own quiet, honest, sound<br />
practice a teaching career that many<br />
would envy and all could learn from.<br />
His students were the lucky ones to be<br />
able to experience this at first hand.<br />
Melvyn Elphee<br />
Alan Sharpe (1965-2004)<br />
September 1924 – <strong>Ecolint</strong> opens with<br />
three teachers.<br />
September 1965 – <strong>Ecolint</strong> opens<br />
with over one hundred teachers,<br />
including Alan Sharpe as a newly<br />
recruited physics teacher.<br />
September 2004 – <strong>Ecolint</strong> opens with<br />
well over three hundred teachers, but<br />
Alan Sharpe is 300 km away in France,<br />
enjoying his first days of retirement!<br />
For nearly half of its existence Alan<br />
served the School. He lived through<br />
many of its political and administrative<br />
upheavals and crises but as a true<br />
professional he never allowed these<br />
to deflect him from his primary task<br />
of teaching, encouraging and guiding<br />
the young people entrusted to him.<br />
His innovative and sometimes<br />
unorthodox ways of presenting<br />
Physics as an exciting and accessible<br />
subject inspired many of his students<br />
to continue on to brilliant careers in<br />
science or technology, but even those<br />
who chose other directions can look<br />
back on his classes as “fun places to<br />
have been”.<br />
Whether in the Physical Science<br />
and, later, Integrated Science courses<br />
he developed for years seven and<br />
eight in the pre-Middle School days<br />
or Chemistry for classes nine and<br />
ten or “la physique” for francophone<br />
classes Alan’s infectious enthusiasm<br />
communicated itself to the students.<br />
A generation of IB students will have<br />
experienced his talents through the<br />
compulsory Theory of Knowledge<br />
course. Not all will know that Alan<br />
worked hard and long with the<br />
IBO in trying to develop a course<br />
which would be interesting, thought<br />
provoking and relevant to all students,<br />
whatever their particular specialities,<br />
yet not overburden the hard-pressed<br />
Diploma candidate.<br />
From his earliest days at <strong>Ecolint</strong>,<br />
Alan was recognised by his students<br />
as a friend in whom they could<br />
confide and who would champion<br />
them as individuals or as groups. He<br />
was always ready to help with student<br />
activities, whether by chaperoning<br />
dances, accompanying groups to the<br />
Walabi Fun Park or sports events,<br />
or facilitating the annual Students<br />
Day Fairs. Alan’s talent for pastoral<br />
care was recognised more formally<br />
in his duties as Class Tutor and later<br />
as Assistant Principal. Through his<br />
wise and concerned mediation many<br />
potential disputes between individual<br />
students, or between students and<br />
members of staff, were quietly and<br />
tactfully defused and settled. His<br />
personal integrity gives Alan an<br />
authority respected by students and<br />
colleagues alike.<br />
His salary statements will dryly<br />
record Alan as a science teacher, a<br />
tutor, an assistant principal. To the<br />
wider <strong>Ecolint</strong> community he was<br />
much more than these. Who can<br />
forget his stage appearances, or the<br />
English Pub which Alan and his wife<br />
Carole have run at the LGB Kermesse<br />
for so many years Staff will remember<br />
his gastronomic prowess when along<br />
with Les Wise and Mary Sorrentino,<br />
he carved and served mouth-watering<br />
ham and gratin in “Piggies” at the<br />
Student Day Fairs whereas Alumni<br />
attending the 5th World Reunion last<br />
June will remember Alan, Isobel Wise<br />
and Frank Lunt as the master chefs<br />
of the Sunday morning Bar-B-Cue at<br />
LGB.<br />
I had the privilege of working closely<br />
with Alan in the Physics (later Science)<br />
Department for over thirty years. He<br />
taught me a lot about Physics, about<br />
people, about life in general and I<br />
value his continued friendship.<br />
Alan deserves a long and happy<br />
retirement, to give him time to<br />
indulge his passions for antique<br />
scientific equipment and veteran cars<br />
but it seems unlikely that <strong>Ecolint</strong> will<br />
not be able to tempt him back into the<br />
laboratory from time to time.<br />
Tony Montgomery<br />
Anne-Marie Trémeaud (1982-2004)<br />
est partie avec sa Mini vers d’autres<br />
horizons en juin 2004<br />
Pour elle, pour notre Dame,<br />
quelques mots agencés en acrostiche.<br />
A comme Actrice de talent, à tout<br />
moment, à chaque instant, mais aussi<br />
un A comme Amatrice éclairée d’arts<br />
de toutes sortes, en particulier la<br />
musique, la peinture, la littérature.<br />
N comme Nouvelle venue perpétuelle,<br />
qui demande à son voisin : « Mais qui<br />
est donc ce Monsieur » « C’est le DG,<br />
Anne-Marie, depuis quelques années<br />
déjà ! »<br />
N encore comme Narratrice<br />
passionnante d’anecdotes amusantes<br />
ou des mariages de ses trois enfants.<br />
E comme Enseignante originale,<br />
attachante et brillante, qui a aimé tant<br />
d’élèves qui le lui rendaient bien !<br />
M comme Magnifique dans sa<br />
simplicité seigneuriale de femme de<br />
qualité à l’esprit raffiné.<br />
A comme Amie des bons et mauvais<br />
jours, toujours fidèle et bienveillante,<br />
compréhensive et tolérante.<br />
R comme Rigolote et facétieuse qui<br />
sait rendre supportable une réunion<br />
ennuyeuse, faire disparaître un coup<br />
de spleen et ensoleiller un matin<br />
brumeux, à 8h sur le parking.<br />
I comme Innocente, même devant<br />
le pire tribunal de malfaisants et<br />
médisants.<br />
E comme Economie, bien sûr,<br />
discipline difficile qu’elle a su rendre<br />
passionnante pour 22 générations<br />
d’élèves turbulents que pourtant<br />
elle appelait toujours « mes petits<br />
chéris ».<br />
T comme Travaux à corriger,<br />
cauchemar des profs et voleurs de<br />
dimanches dont elle est désormais<br />
débarrassée.<br />
R comme Rageuse devant<br />
l’incompétence, l’injustice et la<br />
bêtise.<br />
E comme <strong>Ecolint</strong> qui perd avec<br />
elle un membre emblématique,<br />
charismatique, intelligent, fin et<br />
cultivé.<br />
M comme Mini noire légendaire à<br />
l’intérieur apocalyptique garée devant<br />
la grille et remplacée désormais par<br />
une autre Mini verte.<br />
E comme à l’Ecoute des autres, de ses<br />
amis, de ses collègues, de ses élèves,<br />
des membres du CDG où elle a siégé<br />
quelques temps.<br />
A comme absolument géniale et<br />
irremplaçable dans sa singularité.<br />
U comme Utopiste et néanmoins<br />
réaliste qui apporte sa petite pierre<br />
lumineuse à l’édifice du monde pour<br />
le rendre meilleur, par exemple avec<br />
sa chronique littéraire dans le Journal<br />
des Français à l’Etranger.<br />
D enfin, D comme Départ vers une<br />
nouvelle vie que nous lui souhaitons<br />
tous, avec ceux qu’elle aime, longue<br />
et bienheureuse.<br />
… Connaître Anne Marie Trémeaud<br />
est une chance, compter parmi ses<br />
amis, un privilège…<br />
Marie-Claire Vigneau-Ribal
17<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
Les Wise (1970 – 2004)<br />
It all began back in 1970 with a<br />
misunderstanding. I was in London<br />
to interview applicants for a Chemistry<br />
teaching position – amongst them a<br />
certain young Leslie Wise. We waited<br />
in different areas of the chosen venue.<br />
We waited and waited and waited.<br />
Finally, and I am not quite sure how,<br />
we managed to make contact.<br />
This was our first misunderstanding.<br />
It was also the last!<br />
Like so many of us, Les came to<br />
Geneva thinking it would be for<br />
just a few years. I doubt that he ever<br />
imagined that he would dedicate<br />
the rest of his teaching career to<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong>. Les is an accomplished<br />
Chemist and a skilled communicator.<br />
Generations of alumni are indebted<br />
to Les for their achievements in<br />
Chemistry. However he is more than<br />
just a Chemist. His knowledge of<br />
Geography and many other subjects<br />
makes him a formidable opponent in<br />
Trivial Pursuit. Indeed he might well<br />
have studied Geography rather than<br />
Chemistry at the University level had<br />
not a School Careers adviser told him<br />
that with a degree in Geography he<br />
would be condemned to teaching!<br />
One particular area of Chemistry<br />
in which Les excels is the thermal<br />
molecular structural modifications, of<br />
triglyceride, protein and carbohydrate<br />
materials. Yes, he is a superb cook and<br />
so many of us have had enormous<br />
pleasure by being on the receiving<br />
end of his skills in this area. However<br />
above the knowledge and expertise is<br />
Les the human being. He has been<br />
a caring and compassionate teacher<br />
who has always had the welfare of his<br />
students at heart. He also managed<br />
to inject a great deal of humour<br />
into his teaching. There were times<br />
when I would hear him teaching in<br />
the adjacent lab and it sounded to<br />
all intents and purposes rather like<br />
an episode from Fawlty Towers. His<br />
students laughed and learned.<br />
Les, yours has been a long<br />
and distinguished career at<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong>. Countless colleagues and<br />
students remember you with affection<br />
and respect. Enjoy a long, happy and<br />
well-earned retirement. And don’t<br />
forget to invite us round for your next<br />
culinary creation!<br />
Eric Anthony<br />
Jacques Mandallaz<br />
Le 31 décembre 2004, après avoir<br />
travaillé 21 ans à l’imprimerie, notre<br />
cher collègue Jacques nous a quittés<br />
pour une retraite bien méritée. Nous<br />
lui souhaitons beaucoup de bonheur<br />
pour cette nouvelle étape de vie. Nous<br />
reviendrons plus complètement sur son<br />
passage parmi nous dans la prochaine<br />
édition de notre ‘<strong>Newsletter</strong>’.<br />
Alumni News<br />
I am aware of many alumni who have<br />
exceptional musical talents but I<br />
hesitate to attempt a comprehensive<br />
list for fear of offending by omission.<br />
However two of our former students<br />
have caught my attention of late.<br />
I chanced to see a TV programme<br />
recently in which Ju-Ying Song/87<br />
LGB was performing. She seems to be<br />
doing very well indeed in her career. I<br />
have read an enthusiastic review of a<br />
performance back in 98 at her Alma<br />
Mater Stanford, where she included<br />
in her recital, a piano duet with a<br />
certain Condoleezza Rice! I also read<br />
a review in the Gramophone magazine<br />
which said “And finally there is the<br />
Taiwanese pianist Ju-Ying Song who in<br />
this, her first recording, gives evidence<br />
of extraordinary talent in the shape of<br />
Oriental fingerwork allied with razorsharp<br />
intelligence. Maybe, sometime<br />
in the next millenium, she will be<br />
the one to put on disc my perfect<br />
performance...”. We have lost contact<br />
with Ju-Ying – so if anyone out there<br />
has an e-mail we would appreciate it.<br />
In November 2004, CERN for its 50th<br />
anniversary celebrations promoted<br />
a concert at the Victoria Hall. This<br />
featured the celebrated Royal<br />
Philharmonic Orchestra and equally<br />
celebrated violinist Maxime Vengerov.<br />
The conductor was alumnus Tommaso<br />
Placidi/82 LGB.<br />
Tommaso has conducted some of<br />
the great orchestras of the world,<br />
including a period as assistant to<br />
André Previn with London Symphony<br />
Orchestra. Know of others who are<br />
making their mark<br />
Eric Anthony/97<br />
Très important !!<br />
Site web des<br />
Anciens<br />
Nous vous prions instamment<br />
de visiter notre site web:<br />
www.ecolint-alumni.ch,<br />
de vous inscrire en ligne à<br />
l’ANNUAIRE DES ANCIENS et<br />
d’adhérez aux TROIS FORUMS<br />
Frances Leon Quintana/33<br />
– Albuquerque, NM, USA<br />
Jswadesh@aol.com<br />
Frances’ son, Joel, writes: ‘The big<br />
news for this 2004 was the publication<br />
by Alta Mira Press of my mother’s<br />
book ‘Ordeal of Change: The<br />
Southern Utes and their Neighbors’.<br />
It’s a book that is both scholarly and<br />
easy reading. If you’d like to learn<br />
a bit of Americana, I recommend it.<br />
(www.altamirapress.com).<br />
Because my mother is no longer<br />
able to travel, we were grateful for<br />
visits from our family. The decline in<br />
my mother’s health has also brought a<br />
retinue of home medical help, so we<br />
are rarely alone. Life goes on, but at a<br />
slower pace.’<br />
Alexa MacKinnon Payan/38<br />
– Morelos, Mexico<br />
Alexa has written a book on Flora<br />
Tristan (Gauguin’s grandmother)<br />
which has just been published by the<br />
Grijalbo Group in Mexico. She and<br />
her son, Donald/66, would like to see<br />
it published in English. Alexa is in<br />
contact with Susie Sweetser-Clifford/<br />
39, Cora Lee Gethman/39 and Loïs<br />
Meyhoffer/33.<br />
Cora Lee Gethman Gibbs/39<br />
– Newport, Rhode Island, USA<br />
Coraleegibbs@aol.com<br />
‘I send my very best wishes and would<br />
so like to be there with you at the<br />
B.E.E.R. night. I am wondering if there<br />
are any members present from my<br />
“generation”. I attended the school<br />
probably almost as long as anyone,<br />
from 1929 to 1939 and I have many<br />
wonderful memories of those years.<br />
I have stopped by the school several<br />
times over the years and my eldest son
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 18<br />
spent one year there in 1967-1968, I<br />
am now located near Newport, Rhode<br />
Island, retired from my position as<br />
director of the Newport Art Museum<br />
Previously I was a curator at the<br />
Museum of Art of the Rhode Island<br />
School of Design while my husband<br />
was a professor at Brown University.<br />
He subsequently became President of<br />
Amherst College before his untimely<br />
death in 1983. I think back to the<br />
influence M me Maurette and Miss<br />
MacKinnon had on me developing<br />
my appreciation for art and so much<br />
more. I would love to hear from any<br />
“old timers” who attended La Grande<br />
Boissière in the 1930’s.’<br />
Stéphanie Oats Farrall/51<br />
(class of ‘59) - Australia<br />
Sfarrall@netspace.net.au<br />
It was wonderful to return to <strong>Ecolint</strong><br />
last December, to renew friendships<br />
and make new connections and to<br />
join in the Escalade dinner. It’s not<br />
easy to get to Geneva from as far away<br />
as Tasmania, but going to see our<br />
young family and our first grand-child<br />
in Grenoble brought us closer and<br />
gave us this opportunity to visit the<br />
school.<br />
A special part for me was meeting<br />
with Sue Anthony and Richard Vyvyan,<br />
to share memories and to learn<br />
about Richard’s work in the archives,<br />
continuing Vicki Stereva’s task of<br />
preserving the past of the school.<br />
Seeing photos from this collection<br />
brought back many happy memories<br />
from 1949-51, of being in Manguère’s<br />
class, and of Alouette, the Roquette<br />
family, “Mutti” Hartoch, Miss Lidster,<br />
and singing with Monsieur Buard. But<br />
our main focus was on my father’s (Bill<br />
Oats’) strong links with <strong>Ecolint</strong>, first in<br />
1938-40 as a teacher at the beginning<br />
of the Second World War when he<br />
was asked by Madame Maurette to<br />
take a group of students to safety in<br />
her home in Hendaye, SW France,<br />
then in 1949-51 when he returned<br />
as directeur-adjoint, to work with<br />
Monsieur Roquette. The archives held<br />
some treasures for me. Richard showed<br />
us a letter my father had written to<br />
Vicki Stereva on hearing of Madame<br />
Maurette’s death, in 1989: “Who but<br />
she could have had the willingness<br />
to trust a raw young teacher with the<br />
challenge - you take the kids down to<br />
Hendaye, set up a school in exile and<br />
I’ll cook for you.”<br />
It was good to see George Walker<br />
again, and to be reminded of another<br />
link with <strong>Ecolint</strong> - through the IB<br />
which we recently introduced at The<br />
Friends’ School in Hobart. Catching<br />
up with fellow Anciens, and at last<br />
meeting Georgia Achard after being<br />
in touch by e-mail made this a special<br />
homecoming.<br />
Jane Hougen Fast/59<br />
jhfast@mchsi.com<br />
‘I have just returned from Ecuador<br />
(the Galapagos Islands and Quito)<br />
and Peru (Machu Picchu, Cusco, and<br />
Lima). Besides the amazing natural<br />
beauty of these incredible and unique<br />
places, I was able to spend an evening<br />
with Hernando de Soto/59 (Ernie to<br />
us) in his gorgeous home. I found him<br />
to be very involved with the welfare of<br />
his country and the economically<br />
disenfranchised of the world. He<br />
looks well and fondly remembers so<br />
many from <strong>Ecolint</strong>. Now, if you can<br />
only get him to a world reunion!<br />
As for me, personally, I am adjusting<br />
to a new life without my 35 year<br />
marriage partner, Chet Fast, who<br />
passed away in Oct. 2004. My mother,<br />
now 95, continues to live with me and<br />
encourages me to “go forth” so I do! A<br />
trip to Mexico and southern Utah in<br />
April; then, who knows<br />
Best wishes to all.’<br />
Joan MacPhail Knight/60 -<br />
Woodstock, NY, USA<br />
Jkmacgriff@aol.com<br />
‘After leaving <strong>Ecolint</strong> I moved back to<br />
the US with my family who had been<br />
living in Tunis, spent my senior year at<br />
Mt. Vernon Seminary in Washington<br />
DC and then graduated from Smith<br />
College. The mother of two daughters,<br />
Elizabeth and Sophie, I lived most of<br />
my adult life in Manhattan, working<br />
as a children’s book editor and<br />
have become a writer myself - most<br />
recently a series of books set in the<br />
1890’s about Charlotte who travels to<br />
France with her mother and father<br />
who is a painter. Six years ago Bill<br />
and I moved to Woodstock, NY, and<br />
started a company, Catskill Mountain<br />
Pictures, a location services company<br />
for fashion and film. I enjoy writing,<br />
gardening and long walks with my<br />
Brussels Griffon dogs. I would love to<br />
hear from friends and can be reached<br />
at : Jkmacgriff@aol.com, 20 Lasher<br />
Rd., Woodstock, NY 12498.’<br />
Riva Freifeld/61<br />
New York, NY, USA<br />
rivaf@attglobal.net<br />
Riva lives in New York City and is<br />
currently producing a one hour<br />
historical documentary on Annie Oakley,<br />
funded by a grant from the National<br />
Endowment for the Humanities and<br />
WGBH-TV in Boston, MA, USA. It will<br />
air as part of the “American Experience”<br />
series on American public television in<br />
late fall 2005.<br />
Richard Bruland/64<br />
Los Angeles, CA, USA<br />
rbruland@cyberhotline.com<br />
Richard writes, ‘A survey of the<br />
last 15 years of my painting at LA<br />
ArtCore in downtown Los Angeles<br />
just ended. It was very well received,<br />
and was a wonderful chance to show<br />
the progression and evolution of my<br />
current work.<br />
On April 16th will be the opening<br />
reception for a month long solo show<br />
of all new paintings at the Gail Harvey<br />
Gallery, Bergamot Station, B-5, 2525<br />
Michigan Avenue Santa Monica, CA.<br />
Tel: (310)829-9125. In the fall I will be<br />
having a solo show at Mt. San Jacinto<br />
College, San Jacinto, CA.<br />
All my painting is still absolutely<br />
connected to what I absorbed and<br />
learned in Mr. Holmes and Mr. Uzzell’s<br />
art classes at <strong>Ecolint</strong>. Both those<br />
teachers (particularly Mr. Uzzell) had<br />
a huge impact on my development<br />
and understanding of what art and<br />
painting is all about.<br />
Farifteh Hafezi-Robb/66<br />
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK<br />
f.v.robb@btinternet.com<br />
‘I can’t believe it’s almost a year since I<br />
made that emotional and such a happy<br />
a visit to <strong>Ecolint</strong> and Geneva. Life is<br />
extremely busy for me at present as I<br />
have added a new re-search adjunct to<br />
my post as NHS midwife here. I visited<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong> for the first time after nearly<br />
40 years (I left in 1966) last April, and<br />
what took me most by surprise was the<br />
number of motor vehicles around the<br />
school, also the fact that my Primary<br />
School playground at La Grande<br />
Boissière is now a car park!, and the<br />
general disappearance of the green<br />
open spaces of my childhood memories<br />
within the school. Otherwise, I<br />
suppose, “plus ça change, plus c’est<br />
la même chose”. Many thanks once<br />
again for all your kindness in showing<br />
me around and entertaining me.’
’Also, I am still in touch with:<br />
Thomas Munch who was in my year at<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong> (his wife Meg is godmother<br />
to one of my daughters!) He is<br />
presently a History lecturer at Glasgow<br />
University, has a grown-up son and<br />
daughther, and has written several<br />
books, and<br />
Michele Castle Klein also in my year<br />
until approx. 1963, and my best friend<br />
at <strong>Ecolint</strong>. She studied psychology,<br />
married Jacob Klein a physics lecturer,<br />
has four grown-up children and<br />
divides her time between Israel and<br />
Oxford, and has also written several<br />
books.’<br />
Lori Lieberman Cali/69<br />
Los Angeles, CA, USA<br />
lorlieberman11@earthlink.net<br />
‘I’m living in Los Angeles with my<br />
husband, Joseph, and our blended<br />
seven children (I have three),<br />
and have continued to pursue my<br />
recording career - currently at<br />
work in the studio completing my<br />
sixteenth album/CD.’ Lori’s website<br />
is www.lorilieberman.com. Joseph is<br />
an actor (best known for his role in<br />
‘Saturday Night Fever’) as well as a<br />
home theatre designer.<br />
‘My sisters, Kim Lieberman-McCarty<br />
and Susan Lieberman/67 are doing<br />
well in their fields. Susan owns an<br />
incredibly beautiful store in Santa<br />
Monica called ‘Paris 1900’ (website<br />
www.paris1900.com) and Kim is an<br />
artist with tremendous success with<br />
many shows throughout the country –<br />
notably in New York and Los Angeles.<br />
(website www.kimmccarty.net). Kim<br />
and her husband, Michael McCarty,<br />
own two chic restaurants called<br />
‘Michaels in New York and Los<br />
Angeles.’<br />
Arthar Sutan-Khan/73<br />
Geneva, Switzerland<br />
SULTANH@unhcr.ch<br />
Athar would enjoy hearing from his<br />
former classmates – especially Cindy<br />
Burgess and Ann Rehlaender.<br />
Nigel Edmonds/78<br />
Ottawa, Canada<br />
Clarke_Edmonds@hotmail.com<br />
Nigel is looking for old school friend<br />
Tom Lho/78<br />
E. Kate Robertson/83 (La Chât)<br />
ekate@quattro.ca<br />
Kate is looking for Charlotte<br />
Stephenson/83<br />
Linda Hanson/86<br />
Boston, MA, USA<br />
lindahansonlaw@verizon.net<br />
‘We have a 19 month old son, Daeven,<br />
and are expecting our second baby in<br />
April.<br />
I run my own Estate & Tax Planning<br />
Law Practice just outside of Boston<br />
and would very much like to get in<br />
contact with other Alumni living in<br />
the Boston area’.<br />
Ilona Tar/90<br />
Sydney, Australia<br />
ilona@backpackersworld.com<br />
‘After graduating from <strong>Ecolint</strong> in 1990<br />
I completed one year of Architecture<br />
at Uni de Genève and then moved<br />
to Sydney to complete a Bachelor<br />
of Landscape Architecture at the<br />
University of New South Wales. The<br />
culture shock of moving to Australia<br />
was so enormous that I have been left<br />
with an affliction - after 13 years away<br />
from Geneva - I still have an American<br />
accent! After achieving my goal of<br />
seeing my landscape work on TV, I<br />
then became Graphic Artist. I am<br />
now working at Backpackers World<br />
Travel, Sydney, as a Creative Designer.<br />
I return to GE whenever I can and<br />
always miss it!’<br />
Sara Furstenborg-Zitouni/92<br />
Geneva, Switzerland<br />
sara.zitouni@ecolint.ch<br />
‘Since January 2005 I have been<br />
working as the Administrative Assistant<br />
to Ms Lesley Stagg, Campus Principal<br />
of Campus des Nations.<br />
After leaving <strong>Ecolint</strong> in 1992, I<br />
attended the Ecole Hôtelière de<br />
Genève and graduated in 1995 with<br />
a Hotel Management Degree. I then<br />
worked at Le Richemond, the Crowne<br />
Plaza and finally at Hotel President<br />
Wilson, one of the Leading Hotels<br />
of the World, before coming back to<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong> in October 2000 in the role of<br />
School Secretary at Pregny Campus.<br />
This was a welcome change in my<br />
career allowing me to spend more<br />
time with my two children Saïd and<br />
Sonia, who are now 6 and 2 years old.<br />
I am very much enjoying working with<br />
Ms Stagg and look forward to assisting<br />
her in opening <strong>Ecolint</strong>’s 4th Campus<br />
in September 2005.’<br />
Marc Luanghy/97<br />
Genève, Suisse<br />
Je m’appelle Marc Luanghy et suis un<br />
ancien élève de l’Ecole Internationale<br />
19<br />
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER<br />
de Genève (La Grande Boissière).<br />
J’y suis arrivé en septembre 1994<br />
pour terminer le cursus en juin 1997<br />
(Baccalauréat Français, ES). Après<br />
avoir effectué mes études de droit en<br />
Angleterre, je suis rentré à Genève<br />
d’où je vous écrit.<br />
Dwight Crabtree/98<br />
Bangkok, Thailand<br />
DwightC@AIG.com<br />
I find myself in Bangkok, Thailand,<br />
where I’ve been working for AIG ever<br />
since graduating from Princeton in<br />
June, 2002. Besides the day-to-day<br />
of working for a finance company,<br />
my Thai has improved dramatically<br />
(e.g. “same same, but different”), the<br />
food is spectacular, and travel in S.E.<br />
Asia is tops. I’m heading to Southern<br />
Thailand at the end of March to<br />
coordinate a donation of supplies,<br />
equipment and building materials for<br />
two primary schools in areas that were<br />
severely damaged by the tsunami.<br />
For those who come to visit, you may<br />
be in luck to be introduced to the best<br />
place in Bangkok to eat what I fondly<br />
call “soupy barbecue.” Illustrious<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong>ers such as Tyler, Shona and<br />
Carolynn Crabtree, Eraj Wirasinha,<br />
Matt Robinson, Paul Robinson,<br />
Sandra Mullins, and Deborah Beran<br />
(who is teaching in Chiang Mai) have<br />
all taken part.<br />
In addition, Marcia finds herself<br />
happily retired in Maine with fond<br />
memories of the classroom but<br />
realizing that retirement can also be<br />
just as busy!<br />
Alumni T-shirts for sale<br />
We have Alumni T-shirts and pens<br />
for sale. If anyone is interested in<br />
purchasing these souvenirs please<br />
contact the Alumni Office.<br />
Vente de souvenirs<br />
Nous vendons des tee-shirts “Anciens”<br />
et des stylos. Toutes les personnes<br />
désirant acheter ces articles sont<br />
priées de s’adresser au Bureau des<br />
Anciens.
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER 20<br />
In Memoriam<br />
Jean-Pierre (Jumpy) Dufour/60<br />
– 9 November 2004<br />
Jumpy,<br />
You have left an indelible impression<br />
on all who knew you. Already your<br />
name was a distinguishing factor :<br />
a misprononciation of Jean-Pierre<br />
in China where you were born. You<br />
subsequently became known as John<br />
in the years that followed your <strong>Ecolint</strong><br />
experience, but you remained the<br />
same intrepid, personable, jocular<br />
person you were then. A bon-vivant<br />
who loved life and people and who<br />
excelled in the art of conversation,<br />
whether mundane or erudite.<br />
You would not have us mourn you,<br />
as was your wish, so simply allow these<br />
few words to be a tribute and a loving<br />
celebration to your memory. We<br />
all send our heart-felt condolences<br />
to your wife Helga and your son<br />
Michael.<br />
Lovingly, your sister Adrienne/58<br />
Marie-France Bertherat Felley/72<br />
et fils, Nicolas - 26 décembre 2004<br />
A tout mes amis de classe (Nathalie,<br />
Antoinette, Denis, Jean-Jacques,<br />
Isabelle, Michèle... etc. ) qui sont sur<br />
le réseau <strong>Ecolint</strong>, comme certain de<br />
vous le savez déjà, notre chère Marie-<br />
France est décédée avec son fils aîné<br />
Nicolas (Clément ayant survécu) dans<br />
le Tsunami à Sri Lanka.<br />
Elle était une de mes plus chères<br />
amies depuis l’<strong>Ecolint</strong> avec qui je<br />
parlais et que je visitais régulièrement<br />
lors de mes séjours réguliers à Genève.<br />
J’espère que vous me rejoindrai pour<br />
exprimer à sa famille nos sincères<br />
condoléances.<br />
To all <strong>Ecolint</strong>iens. Marie-France and<br />
her oldest son Nicolas perished in the<br />
Tsumami on the coast of Sri Lanka.<br />
Marie-France was a woman of<br />
extraordinary kindness who had a<br />
very accomplished career with the<br />
Red Cross (Nicaragua, Israel and<br />
South Africa) and worked for the<br />
Protestant Church administration in<br />
Geneva. A service was held in Geneva<br />
for them which was extraordinarily<br />
well attended.<br />
She had 2 sons of which<br />
the youngest survived and the<br />
oldest disappeared along with<br />
her. She was one of my closest friends<br />
since school and I am absolutely<br />
devastated at her extremely premature<br />
departure. She was a great listener and<br />
was always there for me when I needed<br />
her. Her son Nicolas was a pillar<br />
for her and his younger brother, in<br />
what was sometimes a very hard life,<br />
and a superb young man adored<br />
by his younger brother Clément.<br />
Clément is back in school and trying to<br />
lead a normal kid’s life. Luckily he is<br />
cared for by his father and companion<br />
and seems to be coping well for the<br />
moment.<br />
Please join me in wishing our fellow<br />
<strong>Ecolint</strong>ien a very sad goodbye, may<br />
she and Nicolas rest in peace and<br />
may we all express our grief to the<br />
remaining family for the untimely loss<br />
of such a wonderful person.<br />
Steven Zimmer/72<br />
Nurith Konikoff-Levy/58 –<br />
1 February 2005<br />
Nurith passed away in Tel Aviv,<br />
Israel, on 1 February 2005, following<br />
a courageous battle with cancer.<br />
Nurith graduated from <strong>Ecolint</strong> in<br />
1958 and for many years had taught<br />
Art in Jerusalem.<br />
Nurith was the sister of Roni and<br />
Daniel, and the sister-in-law of Daniela<br />
(née Bucher), and the aunt of Anne<br />
and Stéphanie – all of whom are<br />
alumni. Our heartfelt condolences<br />
to Nurith’s family and friends in Israel<br />
and Geneva.<br />
Sue Anthony<br />
Naissances<br />
Toutes nos félicitations à :<br />
Gilbert Moeckel/80 (La Chât) and his<br />
wife are very pleased to announce the<br />
birth of their baby daughter, Sophia<br />
Grace, on 26 October 2004. She is<br />
the delight of her brothers Julian and<br />
Nickolas.<br />
Linda Hanson/86, and her husband,<br />
who live in Boston, have a 19-month<br />
old son, Daeven, and are expecting<br />
their second baby in April 2005.<br />
Barbara Armas-Loughran/88 and<br />
Steve Loughran are happy to<br />
belatedly announce the births of their<br />
children – Aidan Joseph, born on 18<br />
January 2003, and Ciara Armas, born<br />
on 28 April 2004. Both were born in<br />
Princeton, NJ.<br />
Alex Aziz/89 (La Chât) and his wife,<br />
Hilary, are delighted to announce the<br />
birth of their daughter, Megan Tarana,<br />
on 15 September 2004 in Geneva.<br />
Mariages<br />
Félications à :<br />
Philip Ryan/94 (La Chât) who<br />
married Lucinda Hutchinson on 4<br />
January 2005 in Perth, Australia.<br />
International School Alumni<br />
Association<br />
Association des Anciens de l’Ecole<br />
Internationale<br />
62, Route de Chêne<br />
CH - 1208 Genève<br />
Tel: +41 22 787 25 55<br />
Fax: +41 22 787 26 35<br />
E-mail: alumni@ecolint.ch<br />
Website: www.ecolint-alumni.ch<br />
Portable: +41 79 449 50 43<br />
Editing : Sue Anthony<br />
Proof-reading : Donate Dobbernack
LGB – Student Council<br />
En juin 2004, les deux groupes<br />
concurrents en lice pour l’élection<br />
du conseil des élèves de la Grande<br />
Boissière se sont unis pour former<br />
un groupe commun suite à une<br />
élection mal coordonnée par nos<br />
prédécesseurs. Nous avons préféré<br />
former un conseil de coalition plutôt<br />
que de faire durer les échéances ce<br />
qui, du même coup, aurait pénalisé<br />
les étudiants.<br />
Dès le début de l’année, pendant<br />
les derniers beaux jours, nous avons<br />
organisé un tournoi de basket sur<br />
environ deux semaines qui a rassemblé<br />
une quarantaine de participants.<br />
Nous avons ensuite organisé un bal<br />
de début d’année pour les neuvièmes<br />
et dixièmes années sur le thème de<br />
Las Vegas, avec des jeux de cartes qui<br />
permettaient de gagner à manger ou<br />
à boire. Juste avant Noël, un concours<br />
de groupes de musique. Pour la St.<br />
Valentin, nous avons organisé la<br />
traditionnelle distribution de roses,<br />
avec livraison dans les classes par<br />
les membres du conseil des élèves,<br />
un stand pour marier les étudiants<br />
avec alliances et lancer de riz, ainsi<br />
qu’une agence matrimoniale. Nous<br />
avons organisé en coopération avec le<br />
conseil des élèves de la Châtaigneraie,<br />
les Bals des Neiges Junior et Senior à<br />
l’hôtel Noga Hilton. Avec une partie<br />
des bénéfices des bals, ainsi qu’un<br />
généreux don du PTA, nous avons pu<br />
faire nous même un don à Clair Bois,<br />
une association pour jeunes gens<br />
handicapés à Genève et nous espérons<br />
continuer à créer des liens avec eux.<br />
Nous avons été actifs au sein du<br />
CDG, particulièrement en ce qui<br />
concerne les grands projets de<br />
développement du campus. Nous<br />
avons par exemple pu faire poids<br />
pour sauvegarder la colline, espace<br />
vert privilégié des étudiants de l’école,<br />
dans le cadre du développement<br />
d’un nouveau complexe sportif qui<br />
fera le bonheur des étudiants. Nous<br />
avons maintenant pour objectif<br />
d’assurer la création d’un lieu pour<br />
les élèves au centre même du campus,<br />
à l’emplacement de l’actuel service<br />
technique lorsqu’il sera relocalisé<br />
dans le cadre du nouveau complexe<br />
culturel qui remplacera les actuels<br />
départements d’art et de théâtre. Il est<br />
aussi prévu de revoir la constitution<br />
du conseil des élèves pour assurer<br />
une meilleure représentation des<br />
différentes tranches d’âge ainsi<br />
que relancer l’engouement pour<br />
constituer un véritable esprit d’école.<br />
Julien Domercq<br />
Photo : Julien Domercq<br />
LGB – Student Council<br />
En juin 2004, les deux groupes<br />
concurrents en lice pour l’élection<br />
du conseil des élèves de la Grande<br />
Boissière se sont unis pour former<br />
un groupe commun suite à une<br />
élection mal coordonnée par nos<br />
prédécesseurs. Nous avons préféré<br />
former un conseil de coalition plutôt<br />
que de faire durer les échéances ce<br />
qui, du même coup, aurait pénalisé<br />
les étudiants.<br />
Dès le début de l’année, pendant<br />
les derniers beaux jours, nous avons<br />
organisé un tournoi de basket sur<br />
environ deux semaines qui a rassemblé<br />
une quarantaine de participants.<br />
Nous avons ensuite organisé un bal<br />
de début d’année pour les neuvièmes<br />
et dixièmes années sur le thème de<br />
Las Vegas, avec des jeux de cartes qui<br />
permettaient de gagner à manger ou<br />
à boire. Juste avant Noël, un concours<br />
de groupes de musique. Pour la St.<br />
Valentin, nous avons organisé la<br />
traditionnelle distribution de roses,<br />
avec livraison dans les classes par<br />
les membres du conseil des élèves,<br />
un stand pour marier les étudiants<br />
avec alliances et lancer de riz, ainsi<br />
qu’une agence matrimoniale. Nous<br />
avons organisé en coopération avec le<br />
conseil des élèves de la Châtaigneraie,<br />
les Bals des Neiges Junior et Senior à<br />
l’hôtel Noga Hilton. Avec une partie<br />
des bénéfices des bals, ainsi qu’un<br />
généreux don du PTA, nous avons pu<br />
faire nous même un don à Clair Bois,<br />
une association pour jeunes gens<br />
handicapés à Genève et nous espérons<br />
continuer à créer des liens avec eux.<br />
Nous avons été actifs au sein du<br />
CDG, particulièrement en ce qui<br />
concerne les grands projets de<br />
développement du campus. Nous<br />
avons par exemple pu faire poids<br />
pour sauvegarder la colline, espace<br />
vert privilégié des étudiants de l’école,<br />
dans le cadre du développement<br />
d’un nouveau complexe sportif qui<br />
fera le bonheur des étudiants. Nous<br />
avons maintenant pour objectif<br />
d’assurer la création d’un lieu pour<br />
les élèves au centre même du campus,<br />
à l’emplacement de l’actuel service<br />
technique lorsqu’il sera relocalisé<br />
dans le cadre du nouveau complexe<br />
culturel qui remplacera les actuels<br />
départements d’art et de théâtre. Il est<br />
aussi prévu de revoir la constitution<br />
du conseil des élèves pour assurer<br />
une meilleure représentation des<br />
différentes tranches d’âge ainsi<br />
que relancer l’engouement pour<br />
constituer un véritable esprit d’école.<br />
Julien Domercq<br />
Photo : Julien Domercq