B U L L E T I N Taft Portrait of a Graduate - The Taft School

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Dairy Farming from Pennsylvania to Kazakhstan John Rodgers ’55 (fourth from right) in Kazakh barn with dairy farm director and employees John Reed Rodgers ’55 is a seasoned and dedicated dairy farmer, owner of Plum Bottom Farm in Pennsylvania. Although John barely knew where Kazakhstan was, he says, let alone its spelling, he is now committed to an ongoing farmer to farmer exchange with Kazakh and U.S. farmers. Rodgers’ involvement with the American Forage and Grassland Council, as a board member and president, allowed him to serve beyond his own farm’s boundaries. Through this group and Rotary International, he met a number of interesting people—word soon got out about John’s farming expertise. In 1993, a representative of Winrock International, an organization that administers the Farmer to Farmer Exchange program, invited John to go to Kazakhstan on one of its trips to share his farming knowledge. John initially said no to the invitation—he felt he had already traveled enough, having visited many countries for pleasure and having served in the military in Europe including Scotland. Winrock didn’t give up. The turning point, John says, was when they told him he’d be the first American farmer the Kazakh farmers had ever seen. Because his family was always doing things for others, he also knew his parents would be thrilled he was doing the Kazakhstan exchange program. Since his first trip to Kazakhstan, John has been back seven times. He has facilitated trips in which 34 Kazakh farmers came to learn U.S. farming techniques and also saw scenic sights. Ten more will come in summer of 2003. Hosting the visitors at his Plum Bottom Farm, John says they branch out to visit Cornell, Univ. of Maryland, Wisconsin’s U.S. Dairy and 4-H Research Center, and take trips to California and Idaho. Like Rodgers, many Kazakhs are dairy farmers. One of his Kazakh farming friends came to the U.S. upon John’s invitation and worked for five months on John’s farm. This farmer-friend couldn’t speak a word of English but now John says they can communicate very well—“Our natures are the same.” John truly enjoys the farmers he’s met in Kazakhstan and those who have come here. John’s next trip is scheduled for this fall when they will hopefully implant U.S. embryos in Kazakh native cows, with the objective of strengthening their herds’ genetic base. After studying at Taft, John went on to study dairy science at Penn State. He always knew he wanted to continue the family tradition of dairy farming. “My uncle and parents said the first thing I wanted as a child was a pair of boots so I could wade in the manure,” he laughs. He has a dedication to both farming and to the farm that has been in his family since 1754. He feels a deep sense of stewardship to the 375 acres (of an original 1,000) that have been given to him. “As a young man I slowly became aware that the land I was farming had been in our family a long time,” John states. “This burden of stewardship became an integral part of my thinking. Being the eighth generation, I felt and still feel a drive to pass the property along through the family that has been here since the 18th century.” Supper in a ute in Kazakhstan (John in center) 8 Taft Bulletin Summer 2003
“Over the 45 years of actively managing the land my thoughts have been stewardship, conservation, preservation and perpetuation. Our goal is to leave the land better than when we started,” he affirms. “Both what is best for the land and the economics of operating a profitable dairy farm have been foremost in my planning.” John was honored this year for his skills and accomplishments as a farmer when he was inducted into the Master Farmers Association, an esteemed association of approximately 450 farmers (developed over 70 years) that inducts only four to six farmers annually from the Middle Atlantic states. It is apparent that John has both the willingness and sense of duty to serve far beyond his own farm in this country and others, exemplifying Taft’s motto. To learn more about John Rodgers’ Plum Bottom Farm, see its Web site at www.plumbottomfarm.com. Award to Romano The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) presented former Director of Development Jerry Romano with the prestigious Eleanor Collier Award this spring. The 2003 Achievement and Awards Ceremony was held in New York City at Tavern on the Green before 500 education professionals from CASE Districts I and II. Jerry was recognized for his extraordinary 17 years of service to and performance at Taft. Under his leadership, Annual Fund giving doubled and the Parents’ Fund, the most successful in the country, boasted a participation rate of 95 percent. He directed the Campaign for Taft from 1994–99, raising $133 million, far exceeding the original goal of $75 million. He was honored for his devotion to the school, his leadership of staff and volunteers, and his tireless efforts to make Taft one of the finest secondary schools in the nation. Emily McNair ’99 (far right) at a Kathmandu Tibetan refugee center, visited by her sister Annie ’02 (hidden from view at left) and brother Roody ’04 who took this photo. Studying Beekeeping Emily McNair ’99 will soon be studying beekeeping around the world. As one of 60 U.S. college graduates who have been awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, she will study the ecological, historical, economic, and social aspects of beekeeping, visiting Malta, Slovakia, Tunisia, Argentina, New Zealand, and Vietnam. Emily graduated from Bard College this year majoring in anthropology, with a concentration in environmental studies. The idea for this project came about when Emily was living in Nepal (her third trip there), doing research on development issues. Emily has a long-standing interest in environmental justice, land reform, and land rights and as a result, she met with squatter camps of Kamaiya, emancipated bonded workers living in the Bardiya district, who are struggling for land reform. Much of this region is now a national park where locals have been excluded from land ownership and use of the land and its resources. And because Maoist rebel fighting has been going on in that area, all international NGOs have left leaving locals who have been dependent on them for employment desperate for work. Emily says that the Kamaiya are now interested in sustainable agriculture ideas, more in line with their agrarian roots. Her interest in Nepal began while she was a student at Taft, participating in a program of ecological work there. A friend invited Emily to visit a Nepali friend who is director of the Lalitpur Beekeeping Concern in the Kathmandu Valley. “It hit me,” Emily says, “Beekeeping—the perfect project for the Kamaiya community.” At the Lalitpur beekeeping project, she learned what was needed to make a collective work and have high yield honey production. In Bardiya, the clearing of jungle land for rice paddies has significantly reduced the bee population so apiaries will need to be constructed, ideally, out of local materials and using local bees for honey production. Because the Watson fellowship requires that a recipient visit countries where one has not already spent significant time, Emily will not be spending her project time in Nepal. She’ll learn how beekeeping is done in a number of countries, and how it can be applied with simple technology elsewhere as a viable project for fostering sustainable agriculture for agrarian communities such as those in Nepal. Taft Bulletin Summer 2003 9
Page 1 and 2: B U L L E T I N Northern Exposure t
Page 3 and 4: F E A T U R E S Satisfaction in the
Page 5 and 6: ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Alumni SPOTLIGHT N
Page 7: PETER FINGER ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Alumn
Page 11 and 12: AROUND THE POND Why a Rhino How the
Page 13 and 14: AROUND THE POND Adam Bronfman ’81
Page 15 and 16: Faculty News Jonathan Bernon, schoo
Page 17 and 18: ANNUAL FUND REPORT Volunteers Raise
Page 19 and 20: S P O R T sport Spring 2003 Highlig
Page 21 and 22: S P O R T Coming off their New Eng
Page 23 and 24: PHOTOGRAPHY BY BOB FALCETTI Rear Ad
Page 25 and 26: understanding. They came from small
Page 27 and 28: all the way. You have been incredib
Page 29 and 30: James Blanchard ’03 Class Speaker
Page 31 and 32: Portrait of a Graduate Children oft
Page 33 and 34: Portrait of a Graduate academic dep
Page 35 and 36: Northern Exposure to Native Arts Su
Page 37 and 38: GRETCHEN SAGAN An exquisite basket
Page 39 and 40: Alumni Weekend began with a well-at
Page 41 and 42: Alumni awards, such as the Citation
Page 43 and 44: an evening dinner. The smiles on th

B U L L E T I N Taft Portrait of a Graduate - The Taft School

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