COURTYARD-2015

ALUMNINEWSing and lawn watering. in middleboro,mass., Ben and his boss figured out a wayto utilize different water basins at differenttimes of the day to mitigate environmentalimpact, for example on a threatened wetland.another project had Ben correcting adisinfection problem. he explained all themath he had to do to figure out how toget a higher concentration of disinfectantwithout actually adding more chemicals.he did a “lot of calculations to figure outhow the water would be split betweenold and new pipe of different lengths,diameters and hazen-williams coefficients(measure of smoothness) and to figureout volumetric flow rates.” Ben is reallyexcited about continuing his work in“some sort of environmental engineering”perhaps in creating “more space-efficient,water-efficient, energy-efficient buildings,for example collecting and using rainwaterand combining on-site filtration andrecycling systems.”● Monica Cabrera is living and workingin rhode island where she earned hercosmetology license at the euphoriainstitute in lincoln. within the next fewyears, she will test and become licensedin massachusetts.● Elisabeth Constantino is a senior attufts university, majoring in philosophyand minoring in english. she reports thatshe is “working in a lot of the corners ofthe public speaking world,” for exampleteaching and coaching debate at thehotchkiss summer program.● Maggie Haas studied in Bath lastspring with the advanced studies inengland program with a focus on poetry.while there she traveled to edinburgh andst. andrews in scotland, paris, london,and amsterdam. she also had theopportunity to study for a week at oxford.she is currently a senior english major atskidmore college, writing poetry andstudying under poet april Bernard. sheworks at the writing center as a peer tutorand at the skidmore barn, where she alsorides several times a week.2008● Christy Agrawal is a junior englishmajor at suNy geneseo. last year shehad her own radio show on the collegestation, and tutored a 5th grader inenglish. she reports: “i have been anactive member of a student-led experimentalclass called the thoreau hardingproject. i love writing (still - always), in particularpoetry, and i have a website[www.hichristyleighagrawal.wordpress.com]. i love all (most) things related to philosophy,physics, and women’s studies.and i am also in my third semester ofJapanese – and really love the language!”● Zoë Wilson attends elon universityas a theatrical design & production majorwith a minor in marketing. she has completedher requirements already andplans to graduate early. Zoë reports: “i ama member of alpha omicron pi, whichreally helped me find a family at elon. aoiiis without a doubt the best thing that hasever happened to me. i am currently takingmostly marketing and advertisingclasses and absolutely loving them. i haveworked the past two summers at Burlockinteriors, in Beacon, Ny. this summer iwas a junior designer, handling clientsand marketing/promotional materials aswell as doing a ton of social media workfor them. i am studying hawaiian cultureand identity this January for a month asa part of an elon study usa trip, and thenwill finish up my required credits thisspring. post college, i hope to work in marketingor design, either in interior designor events. i am currently applying to jobsall over the world. sydney, australia,london, atlanta, charleston, andcharlotte are currently my top five citiesof preference for post-graduation jobs.”2009● Christian Marzullo is in his secondyear at george washington universityand loving it. he is majoring in politicalscience and minoring in spanish.this past summer, he interned for ahedge fund in New york. this past fallhe interned at a political consulting firmin Dc while attending classes.2010● Roan Gideon graduated fromrhinebeck high school last may as aNational merit finalist and is attendingprinceton university.● Sophie Perekslis, who graduated fromBerkshire last may, is a freshman atmt. holyoke and plays for the varsity fieldhockey team. they ended the seasonranked 13th in the Newmac (the Newengland women’s and men’s athleticconference) division. sophie has consistentlybeen among the top ten scorers inthat conference during her first season.2011● Erica Doyle is a senior at millbrookschool and this year is one of seven peercounselors. as a peer counselor, ericawent to camp Jewel with the othercounselors and all the sophomores fortwo days, and she will head humanDevelopment, a sophomore version ofhealth class, twice a week.in July of 2014 erica competed on aregional pony club team at the Nationalpony club championships in lexington,Ky. the team won the senior c Division ofQuizz, (an unmounted, multi-phase horsemanagement trivia test, of sorts). she andher two teammates (one from Dover plainsand one from rhode island) studied hardover the summer but still were surprisedto win after three days of grueling testing.it was “quite an experience!” she reportsthat she has gotten her hB certification,which is the horse-management portionof the B pony club rating. she is currentlyworking on college apps and right nowVassar is near the top of her list!2012● Alex Chalk, a fifth former at themillbrook school, traveled this past summerto india to do important work with anon-profit organization called sheD—thesociety for human and environmentalDevelopment, based in mumbai. sheD,founded and largely funded by BegumBilkees latif, the wife of former governorof maharashtra, has been working onbehalf of slum dwellers in mumbai andsurrounding areas for 25 years to improveliving conditions, and provide education,health care, family clinics, and nutritionalaid for children and pregnant mothers.alex explained that the city is divided intoneighborhoods, each a poverty-riddledslum with its own significant issues, fromhiV and a total lack of clean water, to malnourishment,and overwhelming numbersof immigrants from even poorer outlyingareas who flood the city daily by the thousands.he remarked on the “strongsense of community among the people.they feel hopeful for themselves, whichwas inspirational, given how much theystruggle.” alex, who traveled to india withhis mother, brought large quantities ofschool supplies that he and his sister,Sarah Chalk ’14, collected, and donatedthem to tribal areas. he had also raised$2,000.00 to take over with him. he commentedthat a water system for a tribecosts $10,000.00. alex volunteered tirelesslyfor nearly a month alongside sheDworkers in all the neighborhoods wherethe organization has a presence, and tookhundreds of incredible photographs ofpeople and settings. while he was there,alex also worked on the website, and thefacebook page, and created a brochure toget the message out about the organization.he even redesigned the logo. hiscommitment to sheD has not ended andhe still donates time to the organization.2013● last year, as a freshman, Peter Fousekmade the varsity wrestling team andvarsity crew team at salisbury, and madethe first honor roll both terms. this year,as a sophomore, peter is running forstudent government.the court yarD . www.DutchessDay.org 27