The Kimberton Star - Kimberton Waldorf School

KWS Reaching Out To AlumniAbout 20 alumni, alumni parentsand KWS board member,Deborah Merroth-Ahola andAssociate Director of Development,Caitlin Elberson attendedthe Philly event in June at thePub & Kitchen.From left: Tim Schutter ‘10,Kyle Schutter ‘06, Laura Schutter,‘07From left: Danica Cantrell ‘08,Liana Garcia-Osborne ‘06,James McAloon ‘06, MeredithMitchell ‘06From left: Alex Dews ‘99, DanielleFriedland ‘96, ElizabethCuesta ‘96 (Liz is on the facultyat KWS)PS: Alex and his wife, Sasha,had a baby girl, Evelyn SwayzeDews, on June 23, 2011!

Introducing Our Newest AlumniAlexis Bacon is delighted to beattending Smith College. Shewas also accepted at ElizabethtownCollege.Emily Biffis will be attendingSmith College. She was alsoaccepted at Bard College andMount Holyoke, where she wasoffered a leadership scholarship.Sonia DelBusso plans to pursueathletic training at IthacaCollege, which awarded her a$10,000 Laurence S. Hill andAdrian M. Newens Scholarship.She was also offered a meritscholarship at McDaniel College.Drexel named her an A.J. DrexelScholar, and Syracuse Universitygranted her a Syracuse UniversityDean’s Scholarship. Sonia intendsto take a gap year to work,travel, and study photography inCosta Rica.Tessa Bailey will attend EasternUniversity, where she wasawarded a $13,000-per-yearleadership scholarship, a$2,000 music scholarship anda $1,000 legacy scholarship.Angier Cooper will attend UrsinusCollege, which grantedher a $17,000-per-year UrsinusScholarship. She was alsoaccepted at ElizabethtownCollege, which offered her apresidential scholarship, YorkCollege (Heritage Award), aswell as Lebanon Valley College,University of Massachusetts atAmherst, Kutztown, Millersville,East Stroudsburg, and SlipperyRock.Cordelia Greene will work asan au pair in Paris for a Kimbertonalumna’s two children,while taking classes at ParsonsSchool of Design, Paris. Shewill also prepare to apply to artschool for the following year.

Aidan Gross will travel andwork in Europe, explore the unknown,and apply to colleges.Hytham Hanna will take a gapyear to attend the KROKA semesterin Ecuador and then willattend Bennington College.Jackson Hughes will take agap year to work on an organicfarm in Hawaii. He will thenattend Bennington College,which awarded him a BenningtonGrant of $28,000 plus aBrockway Faculty Scholarshipof $8,000. Jackson was alsoadmitted to the New College ofFlorida, which offered him anNCF Scholarship and a NewCollege Grant. Eckerd Collegeoffered Jackson a TrusteeScholarship and a CollegeGrant.Leigh Ann Hall is thrilled to beattending Emerson College inthe fall. Leigh Ann was new toKimberton Waldorf School thispast fall and by all accounts,she thrived.Hagay Haut was accepted atGoucher College (which offereda generous merit award)and Randolph College, whichoffered him a merit scholarshipof $16,000. He will attendRandolph after a gap year. Hisplans include traveling to Israeland Europe and workingon an organic farm in Hawaii.Eva Jaunzemis plans to pursuea joint BA/BFA in fashiondesign at Parsons, theNew School for Design/Lang,where she received a Bachelorof Fine Arts Scholarshipof $11,100 and a Dean’s BFA

Scholarship of $4,900. Shewas also accepted into PhiladelphiaUniversity’s Designprogram (where she was offereda Faculty Scholarshipand Philadelphia UniversityGrant) and at Drexel, again inDesign, where she was awardeda Dean’s Scholarship.Danny Minogue is lookingforward to attending the HonorsCollege at Ithaca, wherehe received the John HarcourtScholarship of $7,500 per year.He was also admitted to ElonUniversity, University of Massachusettsat Amherst (where hewas offered a Director’s Scholarship,Penn State Abington,University of Vermont, andWest Chester University.Skyler Lehmkuhl was acceptedat Embry-Riddle and RochesterInstitute of Technology (RIT).After a bicycle tour of Europe(perhaps on the electric bicyclehe built for his senior project),he will attend RIT.Aaron Liss was accepted atColorado College, Grinnell College,Juniata College, wherehe was awarded the JamesQuinter Scholarship, and CornellCollege, which offered hima presidential scholarship. Hewill attend Colorado College.Christina Noack was acceptedat Juniata and ElizabethtownColleges. She will attend Juniata,which awarded her a$14,000 M.G. BrumbaughScholarship.IntroducingOurNewestAlumniT.J. Pongia was admitted toIthaca College and the Universityof Tampa. He will defer hismatriculation at Ithaca in orderto spend a year training inmixed martial arts at one of thetop three gyms in the nation.

Speedy Sebastian Roemer willwear the racing colors of MacalasterCollege next fall. He waswooed by Dickinson College,which offered him the JohnDickinson Scholarship, Washingtonand Jefferson College,which offered him a leadershipscholarship, and Fordham,which also offered him a meritscholarship.Brian Story chose EckerdCollege, which awarded hima $15,000 presidential scholarship.He also consideredadmissions offers at JohnsonState College in Vermont andIthaca College, which both offeredhim merit scholarships,and Goucher College.Hannah Tucker will attendUrsinus College where shereceived an Ursinus CollegeFund Award of $5,700 and anAchievement Award of $7,500.Juniata College offered her aBaker award. She was alsoaccepted at Elizabethtown andLebanon Valley colleges.Kieran Schad was accepted toEmbry-Riddle University, Drexeland Penn State Berks. Hewill study engineering at PennState.OurNewestAlumniJacob Tucker will take a gapyear, possibly working in Italyon a farm through World WideOpportunities in Organic Farming.He is also consideringapprenticeship options withTriskeles.

Sharing CulturesCarley Zarzeka was acceptedto McDaniel College, whichawarded her a large meritscholarship, Guilford College,which granted her generousmerit monies, Dickinson College,with a $10,000 award,and Hobart William Smith,which offered her another meritaward. Carley will attend Dickinsonin the fall.News on 2010 Gap Year GradsZack Dunphy was accepted toChico State University, Universityof Montana, Missoula andSUNY-Morrisville. Nell Linderothwas accepted to Eckerd,Otterbein and Roanoke College.She will attend EckerdCollege. Lily Sverdlik will attendColumbia College in Chicagoto study Public Relations andSports Management. Shewas also accepted to La SalleUniversity with a merit Scholarship.When we think of Poland, we might envision war-torn villages froma tragic past. Or we might imagine a delicious perogie. But did youknow that Poland was the first country in Europe to pass a constitutionor realize that they have the financial ability to send a groupof 7th grade students to visit Kimberton Waldorf School?“The whole adventure was like a multi-dimensional reunioncaptured in a real-life fairytale,” explained Benjamin Burg, teacherof the 7th graders from Primus Foundation out of Warsaw, Poland,and a KWS alumnus from the Class of 1985.The 7th graders from Warsaw may have names like Maciej andSergio, but they looked like typical American 13-year-olds wearingjeans and sporting T-shirts.“There was an interest in having our bi-lingual students practicein a native English-speaking country and my first thought wasKimberton,” Benjamin explained.Many KWS parents hosted the students for the week that theywere here. By opening their homes, they extended the exchangeexperience to include an intimate setting in which they could learnabout the students’ particular interests, the foods they eat, and themusic they listen to.“The program at Kimberton was to review early American Historyalong with biographies of historical figures with an emphasison local people.”And how did the KWS students enjoy the visit to the school? “Ibelieve the Kimberton students had a great time, too,” Benjaminsaid. “Watching all the hugs in the parking lot and seeing themrunning down the road as we drove away making their last farewell,well, that summed up the trip.”BenjaminBurg, topleft with 7thgradersfrom PrimusFoundation,Warsaw,Poland.

without being overbearing andauthoritative. They used goodworkable teaching methods,”Chris said.“Kimberton Farms Schoolhelped develop innate abilitiesto try, learn and excel,” Chrisadded.Class of 1981Tara AnastasiTara lives in North Carolinawhere she teaches reading,spelling and writing at FletcherSchool in Charlotte. She lovesto read, write, garden, laughingand making other people laugh.She has three children, Kelly,19, Meg, 17, and Georgina, 13.When asked about her favoriteKWS memory, Tara exclaimed,“Oh, yes! Mr. Stone recitingParcival as a main lesson. Heis such a fabulous story teller.I also fondly remember ‘kiteday’ and going to a Frenchrestaurant in West Chesterwith Madam Coulet SchemduGard.” Tara went on to add thatMadam was one of her favoriteteachers because ‘her name isso much fun!’“Wilma Beam was superfunny,” Tara said. “Mr. Eberletaught me to plant. I really likedthe farmers, Mr. Shuldice andMr. Lehman because they wereso handsome. Mr. Matthewswas a great teacher and funnyman.”Tara is involved in multi-sensoryteaching for kids withdiagnosed learning disabilities.“KWS very much uses experientialteaching and learning,”she said. “I don’t really watchTV and boy, oh boy, I don’tthink I’m missing much. Manyof my KFS teachers encouragedus to read, talk, play orcreate rather than watch.”Elisabeth Bell Bachman livesin St. Joseph, Maryland. Shegraduated from the Universityof Delaware. She is co-ownerof a business that delves intopetroleum and conveniencestoves. She has four children– John, 19, Jeff, 17, Brett, 17,and Gwen, 11, and she enjoyswatching them play basketball,run cross country and swim.Lauren EmesLauren attended Temple Universitywhere she received aBS in Information Science andTechnology, and then went onto the University of Michiganwhere she earned a Masterof Urban Planning. Today sheworks in computer programming.Lauren has two children,André and Kieran. Her favoriteKWS memory was playingEeyore in the 6th gradeLatin play “in that bloody hotcostume!” (“Sed nemo curat;nemini curae est.”)“I learned about people andthat the journey is as importantas the finish.”Ann EmlenAnn graduated from KatherineGibbs and Washington College,obtaining a degree inhome health care nursing. Sheenjoys horseback riding, hiking,swimming and reading. Annhas two children, Kemper andJames Mason.A favorite memory is the MadWoman of Shiov play in highschool and field hockey.“Kimberton Waldorf Schoolhelped us to establish friendships,business contacts, anda love for learning and more,”Ann said.

Class NotesLori FreeseLori graduated from KutztownUniversity and is a kindergartenteacher. Her hobbies includereading and art. She has adaughter, Lili.Martin SchwabeMartin lives in Chico, CA. Heattended Penn State and isoperations manager at GraniteTransformations. He lovesmusic, movies, and electronics.He has one son, Tobias.His favorite teacher was WilmaBeam.“The connections I made haveremained to this day,” Martinsaid.Martha StriedieckMartha graduated from TempleUniversity and is a landscapedesigner for Ornamental Landscaping.She has a daughter,Sarah, who lives in ChesterSprings. She loved hockeyhuddles, senior Halloween,8th grade and senior plays atKimberton Waldorf School.She also loved how Mr. Stonealways had a unique way toexplain things.Ann Theurkauf DyerAnn graduated from GeorgetownUniversity with a BSN andthe University of Pennsylvaniawith an MSN. “Most of the timeI parent and volunteer,” shesaid. “Some of the time I workas a pediatric nurse practitioner.Her hobbies include gardening,horseback riding andtraveling. Ann has two sons,Jack, 14, and Mark, 13.Ann’s favorite Kimberton WaldorfSchool memory was a tripto Williamsburg, Ridley CreekState Park, playing sports andsinging on the bus to and fromschool. Her favorite teacherwas Jason Kanter who “wasable to keep our attention,taught outside the box andtaught outside the box.”How did KWS help Ann in herlife? “It gave me insight andperspective to navigate life.”Sally Umble-LipkowitzSally graduated from UrsinusCollege with a BA in Englishand a MA from West ChesterUniversity. Currently, she worksas a Communication Disorders,Speech-Language Therapistin a public elementary school.She enjoys gardening and initiatedthe Class of 1981 gardeningproject at reunion 2011.She has two children, Julia,who attends Kimberton WaldorfSchool, and Michael. Herfavorite KWS memory was theCandlelight Sing.Her mother, Mary Jane Umblewas her favorite teacher. “Kimbertoninspired a life-long loveof learning,” Sally said.Laura WolffLaura received a BFA fromWest Chester University. Todayshe is a waitress and graphicdesigner. She enjoys horsebackriding, dancing, writing,painting and psychic spy. Shehas one son, Joshua. Herfavorite KWS memory washaving Jason Kanter read theHobbit.Class of 1982AJ. HealyAJ graduated from the Universityof Richmond with a BA,and today provide insurancesupport. AJ enjoys golf, equine,and running and has two children,Ainsley and Sara.“Kimberton Waldorf School provideda life-long community,”AJ said.John H. KellerJohn graduated from BostonUniversity with a BA in FrenchLanguage and Literature andfrom Salisbury University withan MA in Teaching. He teachesculinary arts in high schoolas well as French, Italian andcooking at Chesapeake College,where he shares ideasabout organic food, buyinglocal and sustainability in hisculinary arts course. He livesin Chestertown, MD. He loveskayaking, golf, cooking, gardening,languages, and Europeantravel. He has a daughter,Olivia, 9.“Kimberton grounded me,”John said.Class of 1984Camille St. JamesCamille graduated from

Muhlenberg College with a BAin Communications/Fine Art.Currently, she is doing communicationswork for a Catholicparish in New York City. Sheenjoys art and reading, andher favorite KWS memory isMr. Stone’s stories in algebraclass.Class of 1989Fintje Lehman CarpenterFintje attended Earlham Collegeand has a BA in InternationalStudies. Before becominga stay-at-home mother, shewas involved with data managementfor clinical studies.She loves ultimate Frisbee andgolf. She has a stepdaughter,Lily, who is 11, and Milo, whois 2.Kimberton Waldorf School“taught me to be open andunderstanding of all people andsituations that present themselvesto me,” Fintje said.Class of 1991Elizabeth Beebe HarmonElizabeth attended KutztownUniversity. She is a homemakerand mother to Avery Rose,who is an upcoming first graderat Kimberton Waldorf School.She enjoys sewing, painting,reading, drawing and logicpuzzles.“KWS exposed me to a broadrange of things including literaturefrom around the worldthat I never would have experiencedotherwise,” Elizabethshared. “I truly enjoyed my timehere.”Class of 2003Thea Lothe DringusCurrently, I live in Upper BucksCounty with my husband, Aaron,and I am a grades teacherat the River Valley WaldorfSchool. My class is currently in2nd grade but we will be movingour way up to 3rd gradewith the beginning of the comingschool year.Class of 2004Caitlin Bevvino-RingCaitlin graduated from BarnardCollege with a degree inEnglish, and is a teacher. Sheenjoys running, gardening andvisiting friends. Her favoriteKWS memories include walksin the woods, gardening class,and locking Mr. Lehman out ofthe classroom on April FoolsDay in sixth grade.Her favorite KWS teacher isPeter Lehman “for his patience,love and wisdom over so manyyears,” Caitlin said.“Kimberton Waldorf School providedme with a love of learning,a deep appreciation forcommunity, and the ability topersevere through challenges.”Jeremy DunphyJeremy attended the Universityof Montana where he studiedExercise Physiology. He is acarpenter/painter and part-timestudent. He enjoys running andwoodworking. His favorite KWSmemory is when Tom Dewstold stories while sitting onthe floor of the middle schoollibrary.“Above all else, Kimberton WaldorfSchool gave me the abilityto recognize when I don’t knowsomething, and the desire todo the work to learn it,” Jeremysaid.